Westborough girls tennis moves on to the championship match

NEWTON – Every set, game and point mattered in this girls tennis semifinal match.

After three hours of competitive tennis at Newton South High School, the third-ranked Westborough Rangers defeated 10th-ranked Notre Dame Hingham, winning 4-1 and advancing to the MIAA Division 2 state finals.

The Notre Dame team was difficult for the Rangers to prepare for. After winning Sharon – an opponent the team had never played against and had no common opponents – in the quarter-finals, Westborough dealt with a similar situation this time.

“We just kept playing,” head coach Scott Henderson told the Community Advocate. “We didn’t know what to expect, so we wanted everyone to play their game and be ready for the match.”

The Rangers showed up ready, but so did Notre Dame. Fans of both teams held their breath throughout the first period as the rivals fought hard to maintain their razor-sharp lead. When the smoke cleared, Westborough emerged victorious after winning four of the opening five sets to take control of the match.

Mira McLaren, Westborough’s first singles player, fought hard in the first set to top Notre Dame’s Amelia Maw. McLaren and Maw had traded blows throughout the set before McLaren decisively won the semi-final.

“It was a lot of back and forth; I’d win the game, and he’d win the game. He’s a really consistent player, so every game was really tight,” McLaren said.

Rangers continued to extend their lead. Isabel Feldman, at third singles, defeated Notre Dame’s Vivienne LaGrassa in straight sets (7-5, 6-4) to earn Westborough’s first point. Shortly after, Sahasra Kommineni and Nicole Nguyen gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead by defeating Lily Studebaker and Skye Bunge at second doubles (7-5, 6-2).

Despite Westborough’s 2-0 lead, the game was still very much up in the air.

Notre Dame seventh-grade standout Sophia Lirio defeated Diya Bhattacharya, winning in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) to cut Westborough’s lead in half.

Westborough began to falter: Rangers’ first doubles team lost the second set, and Maw had broken McLaren to jump out 3-0 to start the second set. Westborough needed to win one of their two remaining matches to book their place in the finals, but no one was quite sure if they would.

That’s when McLaren rose hugely.

McLaren fought back to level the set at 3-3, then fell behind 6-5 before breaking Maw to level the score at 6-6. The two players needed a second tiebreak to decide the set and possibly the match. Everyone turned their attention to the court.

The players fought hard. Maw, the last person standing between Notre Dame and the drop, used his powerful backhand to throw McLaren off balance, but McLaren’s backhand was just as good. After long rallies and grueling points, McLaren capped off a gutsy performance to win the game, set, tiebreak and match (7-6 (3), 7-6 (6)), securing victory for Westborough.

“It was pretty tense… It was nice to go up… and then we lost one, and then first singles lost the second set, and then Mira—first singles—really pushed. He was down and he fought really hard, he won it for us obviously with heart and grit,” Henderson said.

If McLaren was nervous, he didn’t show it.

“They’ve been here before — they were nervous, but they knew they had each other’s support and that we just wanted them to play hard and smart and do their best. We just wanted them to do their best and whatever the outcome, we’ll take it,” explained Henderson.

“It’s a really great group of girls. People really support each other and encourage each other, McLaren added.

Elena Chen and Ellie King, Westborough’s No. 1 doubles team, eventually defeated Notre Dame’s Bella LaGrassa and Clara Healey in three sets (6-4, 4-6, 7-5) to make it 4-1.

The Rangers will face Masconomet Regional High School in the state final for the second year in a row. Last year Westborough lost an “absolute heartbreaker” who went down 3-2 in the match.

Rangers are looking for a different result this time.

“We look at last year’s result book and what it shows us [that] we were in it until the very end. We lost but we could have won – it was very close. We just have to get to the top. We’re not going to be dismantled – it’s going to be tight and it’s going to come down to whoever plays harder and smarter. Hopefully this year it will be us,” Henderson said.

Masconomet returns all seven starters from last year’s game. Westborough returns five.

“We were in the state finals last year and it was a really cool environment to play in,” McLaren said. “There are so many people there, and of course it’s cool to play at MIT. I’m really excited about the experience, especially [because] it’s my last tennis match [of my high school career].”

The match is currently on scheduled June 18 – exactly one year since the Rangers lost last year – and will be played at MIT’s duPont Tennis Courts. Westborough’s boys team, also in the state finals, will be included.