St. Luke's Girls Tennis Break 9-Year Curse

The Girls Varsity Tennis team pulled off a stunning win against FAA powerhouse Sacred Heart on Tuesday 5/2 to earn its first win over the Tigers in nine years.

The Storm had not tasted victory over Sacred Heart since 2008 but broke the curse with a 4-3 victory in Greenwich.

In some very blustery conditions, the SLS squad powered into a 3-1 lead. Some excellent tennis from #1 doubles pair Cayley Stonehouse ‘17 and Cierra Kitt ‘19 saw them maintain their unbeaten start to the season with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph. That was followed by a straight-sets win for Caroline Nevin ‘18 and Grace Fitzgibbon ‘19 (6-4, 6-4) and Hannah Amendola ‘19 picked up a vital point defeating her opponent in a super tiebreaker (6-1, 0-6, 10-2).

The Tigers came roaring back though winning the #1 and #2 singles matches despite a superb effort from Elizabeth Laub ‘18 (1-6, 7-5, 6-10), and Cameron Stonehouse ‘17 (6-3, 2-6, 10-12).

With the overall score tied at 3-3, and with just the #3 doubles match still on court, all the attention turned to Clare Armstrong ‘17 and Elizabeth Labriola ‘19. In another close contest, the pair won the first-set tiebreaker 7-3 before grabbing the second set 6-3 to start the celebrations for St. Luke’s.

Head Coach Brinley Ehlers, who was with the team nine years ago, said after the contest: “Sacred Heart is always one of the strongest teams in the league, so to beat them is a huge accomplishment. We have played close matches with them over the years, but they did not go our way. Today it did, it was a total team effort and shows the depth of our team. I am super proud of them all."

GVT is back in action Wednesday 5/3 at Holy Child.

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Photograph provided by Heidi Laub