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North Haven Girls’ Tennis Nears Winning Record, Playoff Berths

The North Haven girls’ tennis team has had six-straight winning seasons and the Indians now stand on the verge of making it seven straight, in addition to qualifying for both postseason tournaments. North Haven lost its first two matches last week, but came back to net a 6-1 victory at Sheehan to improve to 8-5. Head Coach Bob Migliorini’s club needs to win two of its five remaining regular season matches to solidify a winning record and just one win to qualify for the Class M State Tournament. The Indians are also in good shape to make the SCC Division I Tournament.

“Well, we’d like to win four of our last five matches,” said Coach Migliorini. “That is our goal, really—to go into the SCC Tournament as the No. 5 seed and then, hopefully, go into states with either a 12-6 record or at least 11-7 and then see how far we can go in both of those tournaments.”

North Haven began last week by taking a 4-3 defeat at Guilford and then dropped a 4-1 home decision versus Amity in a rain-shortened contest. The day after that, the Indians took on Sheehan and dispatched the Titans 6-1.

In the Guilford match, freshman Julia Migliorini earned a 6-0, 6-0 shutout at the No. 1 singles position; Olivia Hoyt took a 6-2, 6-4 loss at No. 2; fellow junior Hillary Hoyt won 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 3 spot; and senior captain Julia Gill prevailed 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4. In doubles play, junior Sejal Atluru and senior April Chen dropped a 6-1, 6-0 contest in the No. 1 match; senior captain Sophie Bates and junior Nina Padro lost 7-5, 6-2 at No. 2; and junior Amber Jean-Guillaume and sophomore Avery Hill lost 6-1, 6-1 in the No. 3 contest. Coach Migliorini was pleased with the performances of his singles players, including Gill, who’s primarily been playing doubles.

Versus Amity, the match was highlighted by Migliorini posting a 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Daphne Kreiger. Migliorini’s win avenged an earlier three-set loss to Kreiger, who’s one of the SCC’s best players. In the doubles matches, Gill and Atluru took an 8-1 loss at the No. 1 slot, Bates and Padro lost 8-6, and Jean-Guillaume and Hill lost 8-1.

Then in the Sheehan victory, North Haven swept the singles matches as Migliorini dispatched of previously undefeated Justine Hoover 6-1, 6-1; Olivia Hoyt won 6-0, 6-1; Hillary Hoyt was a 6-3, 6-2 victor; and sophomore Rachel Petry claimed a 6-0, 6-0 victory in the No. 4 matchup. For the doubles duels, Gill and Atluru pulled off a three-setter against Cassidy Duffany and Amy Caplan, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3; while Bates and Padro won 6-3, 6-4 and Jean-Guillaume and Hill took a 6-4, 7-5 defeat.

One of the biggest factors behind North Haven’s success is that Migliorini is having a great debut campaign in the top singles spot. Migliorini is replacing her sister Emily, who was the SCC’s Player of the Year the past two seasons. Migliorini owns a record of 12-1 and has posted several victories against premier players.

“Julia stepping in to take Emily’s spot at 1 singles has been huge for us. We had the best singles player in the league last year and now Julia is vying to be best singles player in the league,” said Coach Migliorini. “Julia worked hard in the winter getting ready for the season. After soccer was over, she started playing tennis and all her offseason training has really showed. She played in tournaments and played two, three times a week and now we’re seeing the results in terms of a really strong season.”

Another reason the Indians are having a solid year is because the Hoyt siblings have both done a fine job of advancing a spot in the singles lineup. Olivia Hoyt is 7-6 at No. 2, while sister Hillary has a mark of 10-2 at No. 3, including a win versus Amity in the season opener.

“Olivia is a good, consistent player who keeps the ball in play and doesn’t beat herself. She’s levelheaded, never loses her temper, and is like her sister Hillary,” Migliorini said. “They have similar games—they’re twins—and are both really consistent players. Hillary is also steady and runs everything down. It’s really significant because they’ve both moved up a spot, are playing better players, and have stepped up and performed well.”

Holding down the No. 4 spot is Petry, who worked her way into the singles mix after playing doubles last season. Petry is 7-4 and has claimed wins against both Amity and Hand.

“Rachel worked really hard over the winter at North Haven Health & Racquet Club. She wanted to improve her game and play singles. We played our challenge matches and she came out at the No. 4 position,” said Migliorini. “I wasn’t surprised because I knew how hard she’s been working. She’s done well for us and continues to improve.”

In terms of North Haven’s doubles duos, Gill and Atluru sport a record of 8-2 at the No. 1 position. Gill played No. 2 singles last spring, but Coach Migliorini paired her with Atluru, an experienced doubles player, to help fortify that part of the lineup. Bates and Padro are 7-3 at the second doubles spot, while Jean-Guillaume and Hill have two wins at No. 3. Chen has also filled in at third doubles and contributed to a pair of victories.

“We wanted to have a strong first doubles team and they’ve done really well. Julia and Sejal have both improved their net game a lot and they get along, which helps their chemistry on the court,” Migliorini said. “We also thought that pairing Sophie and Nina would be good. Sophie is a really strong net player and Nina is strong from the baseline, so they complement each other well. Amber and Avery still have room for improvement, but they’re getting better working together and are enthusiastic and always open for feedback. April is a great team player and a solid doubles player who, whenever we need her, is always available and does an excellent job.”

From the Sidelines

Prior to last week’s win against Sheehan, North Haven’s seven other victories came versus Sacred Heart Academy (7-0 and 7-0), Foran (7-0), Mercy (6-1 and 5-2), Hamden (5-2), and Nonnewaug (5-2).

In addition to everyone already mentioned, North Haven’s roster features juniors Abby McKiegan and Letcia Avila; sophomores Niti Bidjam, Jashan Kang, Roma Moore, Katrina Nadolny, Disha Patel, Alexis Porto, Jennifer Smith, and Jessica Thomas; plus freshmen Zoe Bowerman, Daniella Bryson, Delaney Curr, Lily Mezzi, Jessica Tran, and Melinda Vissicchio.

This is Bob Migliorini’s eighth season as the head coach of North Haven girls’ tennis and he’s assisted by Justin Simon and Sherry Migliorini.