Printer Friendly Version - Guilford Girls’ Tennis Battles its Way to Program’s First SCC Championship Title

Pictured is the Guilford girls’ tennis team that fought to the end and defeated Cheshire in the SCC Championship by a final score of 4-3, earning the program’s first conference title in its history. Photo courtesy of Chris Marra

The Guilford girls’ tennis team had a special group of players on the court all season long. Each athlete, whether playing in a singles or doubles realm, gave it their all and showed heart and tenacity through the campaign.

After concluding a very dominant regular season slate in which they sat at 19-1, the Grizzlies found themselves in the finals of the SCC Championship. In that match on May 21, Guilford secured its first ever conference title in program history after a 4-3 defeat over Cheshire.

Head Coach Chris Marra was proud of the way his team was able to adapt to in-match changes made by its opponent, and several girls stepped up to put themselves in the win column that day.

“The SCC Tournament was great, although we had some tough competition with Cheshire in the final round. We had beaten them a couple of times in the regular season, and we knew it was going to be a good match,” said Marra. “The head coach had switched his lineup a bit, and it got to be a little tighter. We were able to get some good wins from Caroline Hergan (junior, No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-2) and Molly Peterson (senior, No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-1). Sophie Gochman (junior, No. 4 singles, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4) was the one who won the clinching match. Kate Gasparini (sophomore, No. 3 doubles) and Zoe Tsoukanelis (freshman, No. 3 doubles) also won (6-1, 6-2).”

In addition, Peterson was awarded the SCC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). Several players were named to the All-SCC First Team for their efforts, including Kallie Kagan (senior, captain, No. 1 singles), Peyton Lynch, and Mia Hardy. Hergan was named to the All-SCC Second Team.

Earlier in the conference tournament in the semifinals on May 20, the Grizzlies defeated North Haven 6-1. Hergan won 6-0, 6-0, Peterson won 6-0, 6-0, and Gochman won 6-0, 6-0. For doubles, Lynch (junior) and Tsoukanelis earned a 6-1, 7-5 victory, Alexie Gipson (senior, No. 2 doubles) and Gabby Kellner (senior, captain, No. 2 doubles) won 6-4, 5-7, 10-4, and Olivia Cowperthwait (junior, No. 3 doubles) and Gasparini won 6-0, 6-0.

With every successful team comes strong leadership at the top, and that certainly was the case for Guilford this spring. Marra saw several athletes step up and be good examples for their peers, including senior captains Kagan and Kellner, as well as Peterson and Gipson.

“Each of them does their own part to guide the girls,” Marra said. “We have a very big team of 40 players. They all have certain things that they excel at, in terms of on-court and off-court, leading the girls in certain ways. I think for all of them, they just do a great job on the court leading by example with the effort that they put in.”

Marra additionally alluded to the talent up and down the roster as a helpful tool in Guilford’s success this spring, noting that a variety of players achieved personal accolades on the court to help rack up team points.

“One of the great things about the team is that we are so deep, playing a pretty deep part of our roster and being successful,” said Marra. “Kallie Kagan at one singles, she really does a great job playing the top players in the SCC and the state. Caroline Hergan has had a great year with a record of 11-2 over the regular season. Molly Peterson is undefeated at three, Sophie at four has done fantastic. Peyton Lynch and Mia Hardy at one doubles are 14-1 - they have had a great season. Gabby Kellner and Alexie Gipson are also 14-1 and have been playing great. Zoe Tsoukanelis has been our utility player, playing both singles and doubles.”

Gasparini and Breann Shelton (sophomore) typically play together at No. 3 doubles, however, Shelton was injured and couldn’t compete in the conference tournament.

After the excitement and celebration concluded from winning the SCC title, Guilford had to quicky lock in and turn its attention to states.

On May 25, the Grizzles entered the Class L State Tournament seeded at No. 1 with a record of 22-1. They played in the first round against No. 17 Simsbury and won 7-0.

As Marra and the Grizzlies look ahead to what’s to come as they move forward, he knows there is some very stiff competition that could potentially be a challenge for Guilford to face in the later rounds of states play. Although he is grateful for what his squad has accomplished, it could very much be an uphill battle.

“The record we have is fantastic, and it is a big piece of our success to sustain our level of play,” Marra said. “Cheshire is still a good team. We were 1-1 against Amity, and we are probably going to have to face them in states. If we get past Amity, a big challenge would be playing New Canaan, and they are really good. The success has been great, and we are really blessed to be where we are, however, it is going to be a challenge to get through the remainder of the postseason.”

Guilford will face eighth-seeded Pomperaug on Tuesday, May 28 in the quarterfinals.

“I think we will be okay for the first couple of rounds; however, you never want to pre-assume anything. We have been playing really well throughout the whole season, and I know a few of the teams pretty well,” said Marra. “Our goal is to go out there and play our best that we can in the first few rounds. For the semifinals and the finals, we are going to have to really bring the competition.”

The Grizzlies varsity team roster is comprised of Gipson, Kagan, Kellner, Peterson, Julia Castonguay (junior, No. 6 singles), Cowpert, Gochman, Amelia Hardy (junior, No. 1 doubles), Hergan, Lynch, Sabrina Chung (sophomore, No. 5 doubles), Makenna Clark (sophomore, No. 4 doubles), Gasparini, Juliette Kellner (sophomore, No. 5 doubles), Shelton, and Tsoukanelis.