By Shane Ball
The Alvirne Girls’ Tennis team came off its second loss of the season by beating three opponents.
The Broncos started the week against Pembroke Academy on Monday, May 12, where they easily took down their opponents, dropping just one match on the day.
The first two singles of the day played out nearly identically. (#1) Emma Coppi and (#2) Lilly Belmore each took down their opponents 8-4. Sammie Schiller (#4) and Aliana Giroux (#6) out-dueled each of their opponents 8-2. Ella Proulx (#5) put on the strongest performance of the day, with a dominant 8-1 victory.
Coppi and Schiller took on Pembroke’s #1 Emma Settles and (#3) Rileyanne Caron for the first set of doubles, with Caron being the only one to win a set on the day for Pembroke. Alvirne took down Settles and Caron 8-6 in a hard-fought, back-and-forth match. Belmore and Schiller had the second doubles set of the day, defeating Pembroke’s (#2) Jillian French and (#4) Brianna Larochelle 8-2. Proulx and Giroux ended the day for Alvirne in an 8-5 doubles match versus #5 Daff, securing an 8-1 victory for Alvirne on the day.
The girls had a successful senior night on Wednesday as Alvirne defeated Oyster River 5-4 in a tie-breaking final doubles match.
Many of the singles were blowouts for both sides. Coppi started the day off hot with an 8-0 win. Schiller would get the Broncos back on track with an 8-1 win over Grace Palmer (#4) after a two-match skid for Alvirne. Proulx and Giroux continued the momentum, wrapping up singles with an 8-1 win and an 8-4 win.
Doubles were trouble for the Broncos, who dropped some tough back-and-forth matches. Both of the first two doubles ended in a 6-8 defeat for Alvirne. This tied the day at four with one match to go. Proulx and Giroux teamed up and crushed their opponents 8-0, securing the victory for the Broncos.
The girls were too much for Manchester West, rolling over them with a 6-3 victory on the road to cap off the week. Coppi followed up her 8-0 singles last with another this week, Oleary took down her opponent 8-1, Schiller won 8-4, and Proulx added on the second 8-0 win of the day. With one more win to go, Coppi and Schiller took down Manchester West’s #1 Ghalley and #2 St. Pierre 8-5. Proulx and Anderson teamed up in the third doubles in the most competitive match of the day. The girls came out on top with a 9-7 doubles win, giving Alvirne a 6-3 win.
With two fewer wins than two Portsmouth and two fewer losses than 4 Winnacunnet, the girls will likely remain in the third seed in what has been a fantastic season for the Lady Broncos.