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Valley Girls’ Tennis Sweeps Week to Stand at 6-3

Kate Cotton is in the midst of her first year as head coach of the Valley Regional girls’ tennis team on the heels of the Warriors’ stellar 2016 season. Last year, Valley went 21-2, won the Shoreline Conference title, and advanced to the semifinals of the Class S State Tournament. The Warriors were at the .500 mark through the first three weeks of the current campaign, but now stand at 6-3 following a trio of recent victories. Valley Regional defeated East Hampton (6-1), North Branford (4-3), and Haddam-Killingworth (7-0) in last week’s action.

Hosting East Hampton on April 25, senior captain Callie Riggio won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles; freshman Myah Martinez earned a 7-6, 6-2 win at No. 2; and junior Isabelle Bowden prevailed 6-1, 6-4 at the No. 4 spot. In doubles, junior Ellie Flynn and sophomore Allie Champion triumphed 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1; the senior captain tandem of Lindsey Lent and Jenna Farley won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2; and junior Isabelle Hansen and sophomore Tori Adamczyk won by default at No. 3.

Coach Cotton believes that one of the major reasons for the Warriors’ recent win streak is the return of Flynn. After being sidelined since March due to an injury, Flynn’s reemergence has helped stabilize Valley’s lineup.

“It’s important for them to have their specific lineup. Having Flynn out has been hard for the team because they’re getting shifted around,” said Cotton. “Everyone has been great about it and playing wherever they have to.”

Valley graduated five seniors who were major contributors to last season’s success. Still, the Warriors feature several returning stalwarts with Riggio and Hunt in the singles lineup, along with Lent and Farley in the doubles corps. Now with Flynn back on the court, Coach Cotton feels confident that the Warriors can continue their winning ways.

“I think we already overcame our biggest challenge,” Cotton said. “We had to give it our all during the first eight matches, where we didn’t have our whole lineup. Now, there’s less of a worry about shaking out the lineups to fill in those spots. So really, a lot of other teams haven’t even seen our real team yet.”

Fortunately for the Warriors, they have a nice mix of people who love playing tennis and are solid all-around athletes. As a result, Valley was able to hold down the fort while shorthanded, recording victories versus Haddam-Killingworth, Portland, and Morgan prior to last week’s clean sweep.

“Emma, Ellie, and [Champion] are all very strong individuals who hit the ball hard. It’s an advantage for us,” said Cotton. “We also have strong skilled players like Callie and Myah Martinez. They have a lot of experience, and it shows on the court.”

While Hunt isn’t one of the Warriors’ captains, she still provides a vocal presence on the squad, and Coach Cotton appreciates how she holds her teammates accountable. On top of that, Hunt is a strong singles player at the No. 2 position.

“Emma has an amazingly strong serve and a great slice. We spend a lot of time at practice trying to get other kids to work on Emma’s slice,” Cotton said. “She also has some great leadership qualities. One time at practice, some of the girls were doing their warmup laps at a walking pace, and she really got into them to pick it up. Emma’s a great motivator and communicates well with me.”

Even though Valley was down a few players at times during the first few weeks of the season, Coach Cotton found a silver lining in that she was able to tap into her deep bench of under class athletes and get them in some matches.

“I was able to get eight junior varsity players into the varsity games because of kids missing for various reasons, and we matched up differently against other teams,” she said. “I’m glad so many JV kids could get a varsity letter. Usually, it’s only two or three you’re able to rotate in. Those kids got a lot of experience during those matches. It’ll really help for next year and years to come.”

Coach Cotton is optimistic about how the Warriors are going to fare the rest of the way this year now that they’re at full strength. She wasn’t sure how far Valley could go at first, but now she sees a team that compete against anyone.

“I didn’t honestly have expectations to make the states at first, but now with Ellie back and everyone playing more, they are growing exponentially as players,” said Cotton. “I have players that have grown so much from the beginning of the season to now.”