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Valley Girls' Tennis Falls in Class S Semis

It was a scene that's been all too familiar to the Valley girls' tennis squad on the day of June 4 as the Warriors took on familiar Shoreline Conference foe and undefeated Westbrook in the Class S semis. After losing to the Knights twice, including the last match of the regular season that decided the Shoreline champion, Valley suffered a 6-1 defeat to Westbrook in the state semis to conclude its season.

"It seems appropriate that these two teams that have been so competitive during the regular season will meet in the postseason for a chance to play in the Class S finals," said Coach Joe Goldman before the match.

Hannah VanBenschoten and Lexie Riggio won 6-2, 6-0, which put Valley on the board. Despite their best efforts, the others lost their matches. In singles, Abby Wolff fell to Casey Burns 6-1, 6-1; Hannah Halsey fell to Liza Goldberg 6-1, 6-3; Jackie Stevens fell to Callie Burns 6-1, 6-1; and Maggie Klin fell to McKenna Atkinson 6-2, 6-3. In doubles, Lucy Burr and Caitlin Farley lost to Annie Raunikar and Angelina Raffone 6-2, 6-1 and Maddy Ball and Amanda Joyce fell to Olivia Lawton and Kaitlyn Loft 6-0, 6-3.

The No. 5-seeded Warriors opened up the tournament with a 5-2 victory over No. 12 East Granby on June 2. Valley was led by solid performances from Wolff, Halsey, Stevens, and Klin in singles, and first doubles team Riggio and VanBenschoten.

The Warriors then went on to play No. 4 Woodland on June 3, winning 7-0. All players won in straight sets against a team that went 16-1 in the regular season.

"The win against the higher-seeded and strong Woodland team reflects a desire across the entire team that they play better and better tennis even as the postseason continues," said Coach Joe Goldman. "Even after the season is long over, the girls will continue to remember the words of Andre Agassi, "It's no accident that tennis uses the language of life, service, advantage, break, fault, love; the lessons of tennis are the lessons of maturity."

Goldman recited this quote to the team at the beginning of the season in hopes that the team would remember it as they go through life. The team took these words to heart and kept them in the back of their minds as they faced their own victories and defeats.