Led by an eighth-grade prodigy and some experienced returning players, the Conant girls’ tennis team looks like a contender this spring.
Former ConVal coach Gloria Morison took over a talented Orioles team this season in her foray into Division III tennis coaching; after sweeping Stevens twice last week, Conant is now 4-1 on the season.
Thirteen-year-old Margaret Winiecki has yet to lose a match this season at No. 1 singles. A seasoned indoor tennis player from a family full of them, Winiecki looked unstoppable against Stevens Friday, her opponent doing all she could just to get a racket on the serve as the Oriole ace won 8-0, setting the tone for the rest of the Conant squad as they cruised to a victory.
The Orioles are strong in the 1-4 positions; behind Winiecki, they’ve got three returning players. Sarah Smith is looking to have a good enough senior season to continue her career at the collegiate level; senior Abby Wheeler is steady and strong, and junior Emily Muilenberg seems to rise to any challenge she faces.
Senior Erin Weidner and freshman Bella Hart don’t have much experience on the court, but they cover the court well and are improving steadily as the season goes on, with marked improvement game by game.
Against a familiar opponent they’d just beaten easily earlier in the week, the Orioles worked on the little things – consistency, conditioning and communication.
“We worked on things even as simple as calling the ball when you’re playing doubles,” Morison said. “We just did a drill yesterday where we worked on that and surprisingly, I heard a few more calls today and that’s just a good habit to get into.”
The Orioles won all of their singles and doubles matches Friday, only dropping five total games out of 77. After the big win, Conant’s girls successfully lobbied their coach for a team trip to Station 16 for ice cream on the sunny afternoon.
Conant only has one match this week, at Keene on Friday, so this week will be all about practice.
“We’re going to just practice and drill,” Morison said, “reinforce things for the girls that are seasoned players, and for the new kids, I’m just hoping that they pick up something new.”
After Friday, Conant has just one regular-season match remaining, at WLC on May 18, before the Division III tournament.
ConVal finishes undefeated
Co n Val’s six-game regular season concluded Friday with a tough 6-3 win over Hollis-Brookline.
“A terrific season for all the kids and the team, which is one of the best and most enjoyable I’ve coached,” said head coach Michael Young.
Eva Calcutt and Fletcher Maggs both won their singles matches to stay undefeated individually on the season. Maggs was also undefeated in doubles on the season after teaming with Calcutt for the match-sealing win Friday; he only lost six games the entire season.
Jaimini Viles won in tiebreaks at No. 2 singles and paired with David MacKay for another tiebreak win in doubles. MacKay won at No. 4 singles.
Ben Kriebel and Brady Proctor played well in their singles matches but couldn’t overcome their opponents, Young said.
With their planned end-of-season opponent, Manchester West, not fielding a team, ConVal is off until the Division II tournament, which starts May 25.