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05/22/2016 12:00 AM

Warriors’ Girls’ Tennis Wins 17 Straight to Net Shoreline Title


Madeline Ball and the Valley girls’ tennis team finished the regular season on a 17-match winning streak, a 19-1 record overall, and the Shoreline Conference crown.Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

Girls’ Tennis

The Valley girls’ tennis team finished the year on a 17-match winning streak to claim the Shoreline Conference championship with a record of 19-1. The Warriors went 5-0 last week by defeating Portland twice (7-0 and 6-1), in addition to posting victories versus Westbrook (4-3), Coginchaug (4-3), and East Hampton (6-1).

On May 19, Valley edged Coginchaug 4-3 as the Warriors’ singles players all won their matches. Hannah Halsey defeated Emily Leibiger 6-0, 6-0; Maggie Klin beat Melissa Fowler 6-2, 6-4; Emma Hunt topped Sam Pietrzyk 6-1, 6-2; and Caitlin Farley defeated Emily Stanwood 6-1, 7-5.

To end the week, Valley beat East Hampton 6-1 on May 20. Halsey won in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3; Klin won 6-2, 6-3; and Farley was also a winner in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. In doubles, Maddy Ball and Ellie Flynn won easily, 6-0, 6-1; Amanda Joyce and Isabelle Hansen won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1; and Jennifer Farley and Lindsey Lent shut out their opponents 6-0, 6-0.

Boys’ Tennis

The Valley boys’ tennis team went 2-2 last week as the Warriors defeated Portland and Coginchaug and lost to Westbrook and East Hampton.

The week began at Portland, where Valley rolled to a 6-1 victory on May 16. In singles, Hal Jones, Ben Kilby, Kevin Baldwin, and Alex Tezzi all won at the No. 2 through 5 spots. In doubles, both matches were won by default as Portland did not have enough players.

On May 17, Westbrook earned a 6-1 win at Valley. Valley’s only win came from Alex Tiezzi and Sam Armenia at No. 2 doubles.

“All our singles players lost. There were some very close matches, three sets, and tiebreakers all over the place,” said Coach Bunny Logan. “Jason Simoneau, who played No. 1 singles all week since our usual No. 1 Jeff Riggio is away, had a long three-setter. He fought hard, but just didn’t have enough tricks in his bag to pull out a win.”

At Coginchaug on May 19, the Warriors came away with the 5-2 victory.

“All singles players won: Jason, Ben Kilby, Hal Jones, Kevin Baldwin, and Jack Lima, who moved up to play singles at No. 5,” Logan said. “No. 1 doubles lost and had a tough match against the two best tennis players on the Coginchaug team. We didn’t have enough players today and had to forefit at No. 2 doubles.”

Finally, on May 20 at East Hampton, Valley lost 5-2 to drop to 9-8 on the year. Baldwin won at No. 4 singles, while the doubles team of Jack Liggett and Lima came out on top with some steady play and great serves.

Baseball

The Valley baseball team won both of its games last week by defeating Coginchaug and Wilcox Tech to finish at 14-6 for the regular season.

On May 16 at home, the Warriors defeated Coginchaug 6-2 as starting pitcher Arik Sypher threw a one-hitter and struck out 12. Matt Robida had two hits for Valley.

Later in the week, the Warriors got another dominating pitching performance from Nash Eppard in their 6-0 victory over Wilcox Tech on May 18. Eppard threw a two-hitter and struck out 13. He also went 3-for-3 at the plate. Brett Camilleri, Michael Martorelli, and Fletcher Suedmeier each had two hits and Suedmeier finished with three RBI.

In other news, Valley had three players named to the All-Shoreline Conference Team as Sypher, Eppard and Robida were all voted in last week.

Golf

Valley’s golf team had a busy week with four matches, winning one versus Hale-Ray 210-229 on May 17. Valley’s three losses came against Cromwell (171-205), Coginchaug (180-207), and Old Lyme (162-193).

Jake Patterson shot a 41, Alex Fortier had 48, Eric Petroka shot 48, and Kelvin Peterson scored a 56 versus Old Lyme. Valley is now 2-8 on the season

Boys’ Lacrosse

The Valley boys’ lacrosse team split its final two games of the regular season by beating Old Saybrook and losing to Ellington.

On May 17, the Warriors traveled to Old Saybrook to face the Rams and won 11-6. Senior captain Jonathan Lacoske finished with one goal and two assists, Jonathan Brophy had three goals and an assist, Rocky Harpin scored two goals, Bradley Rider had five goals and three assists, Ryan Davis finished with two assists, and Jacob Azzinaro had 11 saves in goal for Valley.

On May 19, the Warriors hosted non-conference opponent Ellington and lost 14-6. Harpin and Rider had two goals, Brophy and Charlie Ferrucci had a goal apiece, and Azzinaro made 17 saves in the net. Valley ended the regular season with a record of 8-8.

Girls’ Lacrosse

The Warriors’ girls’ lacrosse squad lost its only game of the week to drop to 1-14 on the season. Valley traveled to Old Saybrook on May 16 and took a 16-6 defeat.

Nash Eppard threw a two-hitter and struck out 13 in the Warriors’ baseball team’s 6-0 victory over Wilcox Tech.Photo by Wesley Bunnell / The Courier
Jake Patterson scored a 41 versus Old Lyme for the Valley golf squad on May 20.Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier