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06/28/2018 12:00 AMEllie Flynn had her best season as a member of the Valley Regional girls’ tennis team, while playing No. 1 doubles alongside Caroline Baldwin this spring. The duo finished with a record of 23-1 on the year and claimed the title at the Shoreline Conference Doubles Tournament to earn All-Shoreline First Team honors. Ellie was also a senior captain for the Warriors, reprising a role that she held with the field hockey squad in the fall.
Ellie won her first Shoreline title this year after drawing closer in the doubles bracket during each of the three previous campaigns. Ellie and Baldwin lost in the Shoreline final last year, before winning it all this season.
“It’s definitely the highlight of my tennis career at Valley,” Ellie says. “It was really exciting because, my freshman year, I lost in the quarterfinals. The next year, I lost in the semis. Last year, Caroline and I lost in the finals in a close match, and now, we won.”
Following Shorelines, Valley headed to the Class S State Tournament and matched up against Westbrook in the first round. Although the Warriors took a 4-3 defeat, Ellie and sophomore Baldwin were able to notch a win against the Knights’ tandem that had handed them their only loss of the year. Ellie says it felt good to avenge the loss by getting that victory.
“We went to team states and we played Westbrook again. That was really fun and exciting,” says Ellie. “That team had been our one loss the entire season. It was exciting to beat them and prove that we could do it.”
Ellie first teamed up with Baldwin during her junior season, and they adapted to one another’s style pretty quickly. Most important to Ellie was that she and her doubles partner have a good time on the court. She knew if that happened, the victories would follow suit.
“I absolutely loved playing with Caroline. On the court together, we both wanted to win, but we also just had fun,” Ellie says. “Having fun was important, and we wanted to succeed for each other. I have to say senior season was the best season I ever had.”
On a doubles team, each player needs to communicate effectively and efficiently with his or her partner. After playing several matches together, Ellie and Baldwin both knew where each other would be on the court and figured out how to adjust on the fly. This is one of the biggest reasons why they had such a stellar record this year.
“We would divvy up the responsibilities on the guard. We would cover for each other often,” says Ellie. “We just worked so well together as a team. I couldn’t have had such a successful senior season without her.”
Ellie developed a great rapport with Baldwin and, as a senior captain for Valley, she also communicated well with all of her teammates. Ellie learned a lot about being a leader by captaining the field hockey team as a defender last fall. She applied what she learned from that experience on the tennis court during the recent season.
“I felt it was really important to be friends with all the girls. I needed to let them know that I wasn’t just their captain, and that they can come to me with any problem—on or off the court. I wanted to always be there to talk to,” says Ellie, an Essex resident. “Being field hockey captain was a really big responsibility in the fall. It was new to me then. That helped me as tennis captain because it wasn’t new anymore.”
Valley girls’ tennis Head Coach Sally Riggio believes that Ellie brought more than just her talents as a doubles player to the Warriors. Riggio says that Ellie set a great example on how to achieve a goal, in addition to being a caring and conscientious leader.
“Ellie truly is a coach’s dream and the most genuinely kind person. She’s easy to talk to, friendly, and has a happy-go-lucky demeanor. Ellie is a great role model for her teammates both on and off the court,” Riggio says. “As a captain, Ellie led by example. Her season goal was to win the Shoreline doubles title. Ellie and her partner Caroline Baldwin were dedicated to achieving this goal. Ellie maximized her impact on the court by setting herself and her partner up to close out points, realizing their season goal by winning the title.”
Now that she’s graduated from Valley, Ellie is getting ready to attend Hobart and William Smith College in upstate New York. She plans to continue playing tennis because she loves the sport so much, but for now, Ellie is focusing on determining what she will major in at the school.
“I want to play up there, whether it be on the team or through club,” says Ellie. “I’m going in undecided, but I will probably end up studying economics. I want to do something in business and, with that degree, I think I can do anything.”