It was “love” for the Walpole High School girls tennis team as they won their first match of the season at home on Wednesday, April 8,  against Braintree. The final outcome was a blowout of 4-1. All of the singles matches ended up in wins; the only losing match being the second doubles. Senior Captain Carolyn Cawley was happy to see that “Braintree improved from last year [because that] made it more challenging, which was a good way to start the season”.  Coach Bill Powers was also impressed, saying that the team, “started the season with a win over a much improved Braintree team”.

The scores from the landslide victory over Braintree were quite impressive. The first singles match pitted Junior Captain Jordanna Rosen against Braintree’s Isabella Lo, with their scores being 6-love both times. The next singles match had Walpole’s Carolyn Cawley against Braintree’s Melissa Imbruglia. Their scores were 6-2 and 6-love, both wins for the senior captain Cawley.  Both Rosen and Cawley were tough to beat at their first and second singles matches. Third singles included senior Julia Frankel versus Jackie Baker, with Frankel winning 6-2 and 7-5.  Frankel struggled to beat Baker in what ended up being “a long, two set match” according to Coach Powers.  She won in the tie-breaker second set, 7-4. The last win for Walpole was the first doubles match. Meg Anchukaitis and Lauren Kemple went at it against Amy Harrington and Julie Manning of Braintree, and the Rebels dominated with scores of 6-2 and 6-1.  Coach Powers said that the new doubles team, (Anchukaitis and Kemple), “played well to earn their first win”.   The final match was the second doubles match, which ended up being the only loss for Walpole. This was between sophomore Paige Hagopian and junior Molly Yakas, and Braintree’s tough duo of Julie Flowers and Caitlin McKinney. Hagopian and Yakas, who started by winning the first set, fell in three tough sets, 6-2, 5-7, and 4-6.

The Walpole High School Girls Tennis team looks as if they are off to a strong start, judging by their first match of the season. Winning almost all of their matches versus Braintree, the girls really stepped up and improved from last year. Let’s see if they can show the rest of the Bay State League that same “love” for the rest of the season.