LONGMEADOW — The Belchertown’s girls tennis team’s triumphant, successful season came to a screeching halt in the Western Massachusetts Division 1 championship match on Wednesday.
After knocking off Chicopee Comp in the semifinal round, the second-seeded Orioles geared back up and were primed and ready to travel to Longmeadow to face the top-seeded and four-time defending champion Lancers.
Nichole Li proved to be the hero for Longmeadow (10-0), as she secured the championship-clinching point against Belchertown’s senior captain Natalie Nowakowski 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles to notch the school’s fifth consecutive title. The hosts wound up sweeping via a 5-0 margin.
Despite the loss, Nowakowski said she felt extremely fortunate just to be playing in Wednesday’s final, and gave all of the credit to Longmeadow for sweeping the match.
“Longmeadow is a very good team with several consistent and strong players,” began Nowakowski. “It was a super fun challenge to play them, and I’m happy with the effort we were able to put out. I didn’t know if we were going to be able to play this season, so I’m just thankful for how the season turned out.”
Although the Orioles were unable to pick up any victories in each of the five matches, all of their goals and objectives this season were obtained, according to head coach Alanna Grady.
“Our goal was to just be able to have a season to start with,” offered Grady. “The fact that these girls were able to put in all of this work, and have their work turn into having the opportunity to play for a Western Mass. final is incredible. This all happened because of their hard work and dedication and I couldn’t ask for a better group.”
The first match to come to a close came at No. 2 doubles, where the Lancers’ Libby McGreer and Grace Tyler were able to knock off Belchertown’s Zoe Bate and Kasey Gibbons in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0.
There was a solid time gap between that first match and the next four, as each contest saw entertaining back and forth rallies drawing the crowd’s reaction from outside of the fence.
Longmeadow’s Lia Manoussoff scored her team’s next point at No. 3 singles, earning a hard fought victory over Belchertown’s Amber Drummond, 6-1, 6-3. Drummond was able to put together a very strong performance, hitting several well-placed shots before ultimately falling short in straight sets.
The aforementioned match between Li and Nowakowski then concluded, bringing the score to 3-0 and assuring a fifth consecutive WMass crown.
Megan Gilman and Olivia Vogel performed at a high level for the Orioles, however it was not quite enough to overcome the powerful Lancer duo of Ella Dietz and Lily Dunne at No. 1 doubles. Dietz and Dunne were 6-0, 6-3 winners.
The last chance for the Orioles to pick up a point in the match rested on the racket of Ava Shea at No. 2 singles. Shea dazzled all day, displaying a plethora of perfect shots, but Audrey Oh was able to put away Belchertown’s freshman phenom, 6-0, 6-4. It was Shea’s first loss all season.
The Orioles do have a talented group of players returning next year, leaving the graduated Nowakowski to recognize that Belchertown tennis is far from done.
“We got so many new girls this year, and they’re definitely going to have a great rest of their high school career at Belchertown,” stated Nowakowski. “I hope the returners can learn from this year, because I know they all have so much potential. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up back in this position again and even won it very soon.”
Longmeadow will move on to play Shrewsbury in the MIAA Div. 1 state semifinal Friday.
