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06/07/2021 12:00 AMGirls’ Tennis
The North Haven girls’ tennis team went on an exciting run to the semifinals of the Class L State Tournament after winning its first three matches in the draw last week. North Haven claimed 7-0 victories over Bristol Central and Woodstock Academy and then won a 4-3 contest versus Guilford to advance to the state semis, where the team took a 4-3 defeat against Avon. North Haven posted an overall record of 12-9 for the season.
North Haven was the No. 15 seed in the Class L State Tournament and hosted No. 18 Bristol Central for a qualifying-round match on May 28. Head Coach Bob Migliorini’s squad notched a 7-0 shutout at North Haven Athletic Complex to advance into the first round.
Junior Ally Vollero earned a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles for North Haven. Junior Taylor Morris claimed a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 2 singles; sophomore Risa Tobin prevailed by a 6-2, 6-2 score at No. 3 singles; and freshman Chandler Morris won her No. 4 singles match by the final of 6-2, 6-2.
North Haven’s No. 1 doubles team of senior captains Megan Kell and Nadia Kavgaci picked up a 6-2, 7-5 win against Bristol Central. The doubles No. 2 team of seniors Sophia DelVecchio and Kaitlyn Ha netted a 6-1, 6-0 victory; and the No. 3 team of juniors Zeena Mohamed and Nicole Carmody earned a 6-2, 6-1 win to help North Haven sweep the match.
The next day, North Haven traveled to Pomfret to take on No. 2 seed Woodstock Academy for a first-round matchup. North Haven recorded another shutout with a 7-0 win to move into the quarterfinals.
Vollero recorded a 6-4, 7-6 victory in the No. 1 singles match. Taylor Morris won her matchup 6-0, 6-2; Tobin posted a 6-1, 7-6 win; and Chandler Morris was a 6-2, 6-0 victor as North Haven swept singles play.
On the doubles courts, Kell and Kavgaci won a 6-2, 6-1 decision; DelVecchio and Ha notched a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory; and Mohamed and Carmody earned a 6-1, 6-0 win for another clean sweep.
Then on June 1, North Haven was back on the road to face No. 10 Guilford in a quarterfinal match. The two teams had split the regular-season series with each club winning a 4-3 decision. In the rubber match, North Haven claimed a 4-3 victory to advance into semifinal round.
North Haven won three singles matches in three sets in its way to defeating Guilford. Vollero rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 1 singles; Taylor Morris posted a 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 win in the No. 2 singles duel; and Tobin gutted out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles for North Haven.
Guilford won two of the doubles matches, but North Haven’s tandem of Mohamed and Carmody prevailed 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 3 match for a pivotal win in the team’s 4-3 victory.
The day after that, North Haven played another road match with a semifinal contest against No. 3 seed Avon. In another close contest, Avon came away with a 4-3 victory to eliminate North Haven from the tournament.
Vollero won another three-setter at No. 1 singles, taking the match by the final score of 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. Taylor Morris earned a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 2 singles for North Haven. Mohamed and Carmody claimed a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles. Avon was able to pick up victories in the four other matches to get to 4-3 win and advance to the Class L final, where the team took a 7-0 loss against Hand.
Softball
The North Haven softball team saw its season come to a close when the squad took a 6-3 loss at Bristol Eastern in the first round of the Class L State Tournament last week. North Haven finished with an overall record of 11-9 on the year.
As the No. 18 seed, North Haven was on the road to square off against No. 15 seed Bristol Eastern in the first round of the Class L bracket on June 1. With the game tied 3-3, Bristol Eastern hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the game in walk-off fashion and advance to the second round.
North Haven fell behind as Bristol Eastern scored two runs in the second inning and another run in the third to take a 3-0 lead. North Haven rallied to tie the game by getting five-straight hits to score three runs in the top of the sixth inning. Junior Caroline Toni hit a key double to drive in the first run and set up the second and third runs. The game stayed tied until the bottom of the seventh, when Bristol Eastern senior Jasmine Perez hit a walk-off three-run homer to give the Lancers a 6-3 victory.
Toni had two hits in the game for North Haven. She also made some solid plays on defense by running down two hard-hit balls for putouts in center field.
Boys’ Outdoor Track
The North Haven boys’ outdoor track team competed in the Class MM State Championship at Willow Brook Park in New Britain on June 2. North Haven scored 23 points as a squad and finished in 11th place at the state meet.
Senior Torray Armfield took second place in the long jump for North Haven at the Class MM State Championship. Armfield recorded a distance of 21 feet-9 inches in the long jump to earn runner-up honors, only placing behind Waterford’s Sam Menders, who finished at 21-9.75.
North Haven saw several throwers compete at the meet. Junior Cole DeCusati finished third in the discus with a throw of 126 feet-6 inches and also took eighth place in the shot put with a toss of 41-1 for North Haven. Sophomore Ethan Anderson finished fourth in the shot put (42-8) and placed 10th in the discus (112-5). Senior Anthony Vigliotto finished sixth for the discus with a distance of 126-1.
Sophomore Matt Crispi finished ninth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 19.25 seconds. Junior Matt O’Connell took ninth in the long jump (19-8.5) and finished 13th in the pole vault (10-6) for North Haven.
Senior Taray Smart, Jr., finished 14th the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.23 seconds, and Armfield was 19th in the event at 24.43. Smart, Jr., also competed in the preliminaries of the 100-meter dash and came in 13th place with a mark of 11.72. Sophomore Daniel-Mark Thomas ran a time of 12.34 to place 37th in the prelims of the 100. Senior Patrick Rourke finished 16th in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:07.82.
North Haven also had three relays compete at the state meet. North Haven’s 4x800 relay of senior Aaron Barbiero, seniors Jason Tong, senior Nick Howlett, and Rourke finished in 11th place (8:50.77); the 4x400 relay of senior Raymond Lewis, Rourke, Thomas, and junior Daniyal Saleem finished 12th (3:43.43); and the 4x100 relay of junior MJ DeVilliers, Jr.; Thomas; Smart, Jr.; and Armfield also took 12th place (46.19).
Girls’ Outdoor Track
The North Haven girls’ outdoor track team was represented by a few athletes when the Class MM State Championship took place at Willow Brook Park on June 2. North Haven finished 28th in the standings by scoring one point at the meet.
Junior Ada Forbes turned in North Haven’s best performance by taking eighth place in the 800-meter run. Forbes crossed the finish line with a time of 2:30.44 on her way to placing eighth at states.
North Haven had two athletes compete in the shot put at the meet. Freshman Erika Fronte finished in 11th place for the shot by recording a throw of 30 feet-6.75 inches. Junior Emily Cocco posted a distance of 29-5.75 to finish in 13th place in the event.
North Haven also saw its 4x800 relay hit the track to participate in the state meet. North Haven’s quartet of sophomore Payton Orosco, freshman Anna Mortali, senior Taya Stanley, and Forbes finished in 17th place with a time of 11:12.76.