SPRINGFIELD — Third sets gave Belchertown hope in the State Division 3 girls tennis semifinal.
A trip to the state final balanced on both doubles courts and No. 1 singles, as Belchertown trailed 2-0 after losses at No. 2 and No. 3 singles Monday at Western New England University.
Maddie Hamparian and Angela Gabazs kept the Orioles alive by beating Jennie Holland and Maddie Laprade 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 1 doubles.
“We try not to think about what’s going on off the court, but we wanted to win it for us with our team supporting for us, we wanted to walk off feeling good senior year,” Hamparian said.
The victory provided some relief for Belchertown, but the Orioles still held on to two separate, fraying threads.
Their hope at reaching the state final ended when the Blue Raiders’ No. 2 doubles team of Rachel Szemethy and Missy Davis took down Brooke O’Neill and Emily Hamparian 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 to clinch the match with three victories.
“It’s awesome watching (my younger sister) compete. I know she’s going to be 10 times better than I ever could be,” Maddie Hamparian said. “She’s grown so much from just hitting balls right into the net to rallying in the semi states.”
With the match clinched, Belchertown junior Meghan Bernard’s No. 1 singles match against Aimee Figgins, then in a third-set tiebreaker, turned into a matter of individual pride and accurate record-keeping.
Bernard lost the first set 6-4 before rallying to take the second set 6-2.
“I was focusing on getting more balls in and moving my ball around,” she said.
Bernard trailed 6-5 in the third set before rallying to force a tiebreak. She eventually lost 7-6 (5) as the team’s season ended with the 4-1 loss.
“I was playing very well, but she got more balls back than I did,” Bernard said.
Her teammates mobbed her much like Figgins’, but they brought hugs of support rather than congratulations.
Belchertown’s Kate Assimus, one of the players consoling Bernard after her loss, lost 6-3, 7-6 (5) at No. 3 singles to put Hopedale up 2-0.
Assimus, a sophomore, was playing her second consecutive match replacing senior Julia Tan, who left the team after the Western Massachusetts semifinal to backpack through Europe.
She lost 6-4, 6-0 in the Western Mass. final against South Hadley but responded better after dropping the first set to Hopedale’s Brittany Dupuis.
“She did wonderful to bring it to a tiebreaker,” Belchertown coach Jackie Kowal said. “When she came off the other day she was really upset, but we had to put somebody in. I wouldn’t want to have to be playing in the final of Western Mass. and now in state, but she handled it wonderfully.”
The Orioles trailed Hopedale 1-0 after a 6-4, 6-4 loss by Jordyn Paul to Megan McLellan at No. 2 singles.
Hopedale (16-4) will play Martha’s Vineyard (20-0) in the state semifinal at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Shrewsbury.
Belchertown will still celebrate the 2016 season. The Orioles (21-2) won the Western Mass. title for the first time since 1998.
Looking ahead, they bring back all three singles players from the sectional final and state semifinal.
“We’re really proud of what we did and what we’ve overcome,” Bernard said. “We are good, and we’re going to do great things in the future.”
Seniors Maddie Hamparian, Angela Grabazs and Brooke O’Neill played their final match for the Orioles.
“It breaks my heart to see them go on,” Kowal said. “I tell them not to go to college, stay one more year, but they couldn’t play, so we’ll send them on.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.