Brookline Girls Tennis Wins D-1 South Title

A determined Brookline High girls tennis team eked out a 3-2 win over Wellesley Friday in the Division 1 South Sectional Finals at Medway High.

Sixth-seeded Brookline’s (17-3) victory catapulted the team into the Eastern Mass. Finals where the Warriors will face North Sectional champion Acton-Boxborough (17-0) Tuesday at Lexington High at 3 p.m. Fourth-seeded Wellesley ended its season at 15-3.

This is Brookline’s first South Sectional title in three years, when it made the State’s Final Four in 2015. After the completion of the first two matches, it looked like the Warriors would not earn a trip to face the North’s top-seeded team Monday as the Raiders jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

“They have been doing it all year long,” Brookline Coach Bruce Mallory said. “They don’t give up on points and sets. They don’t focus on the past and if a point doesn’t go their way, they focus on the next point. They care about each other, and when they are on the court, they play for themselves and for each other.”

Warriors senior captain Sonya Khudyakov won the deciding match which determined the top team in Division 1 South with a 6-7 (7-5 in the tiebreaker), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ana Herning at first singles.

“My teammates’ support helped me a lot,” Khudyakov said. “I tried to put the ball on the court.”

And for the most part, Khudyakov’s consistency carried her as most of her shots landed. This was the second time she face Herning. In their regular-season meeting, the Brookline captain defeated Herning (they faced each other in one of the regular season matches between the two teams) in straight sets.

But in this match, Herning raised her game and edged Khudyakov by the slimmest of margins.

“My opponent battled hard. I felt I had to do it for the whole team,” said Khudyakov on what fueled her comeback.

After Khudyakov completed her triumph in the second set, the overall match was tied 2-2. Following a short break, the Warrior captain and Herning had the third set showdown which would determine the overall winner. Their teammates gathered at the first singles court to support the standard-bearer for both squads.

The first game didn’t start off well for Khudyakov as Herning earned the first two points to go up 30-love. However, Khudyakov, who was facing the Sun, forced two hitting errors to tie the game and Herning helped out with two double faults for a service break and a 1-0 lead for Brookline’s top player.

“I lost the first two points and the other team cheering for my opponent helped her,” Khudyakov said. “I tried to push through and got support from my teammates, who cheered for me, [which helped].”

This was the only game that the one facing the Sun won. The other nine games of this set went to the player whose back was facing the Sun.

Khudyakov won the next two games to go up 3-0, hitting a winner at the net to clinch her service game. She then broke Herning after three deuces by forcing back-to-back errors.

Although it looked like Khudyakov might blank Herning in the final set, things changed when they switched sides and the Warrior leader had to face the sun. Herning scored a service break and then held serve to cut it to 3-2, but when they switched again, Kudyakov won the next two games with her steady play.

With a 5-2 lead, Khudyakov had three straight match-point games. With the Sun in Khudyakov’s eyes for the first two games, Herning staved off defeat and cut the margin to 5-4.

But after the last side switch, Khudyakov began the penultimate game with a service ace followed by a drop shot at the net for a winner. She won the next two points by forcing Herning errors for game, set and match.

“I knew I’d lose the two games and just had to get the win when I got to the other side,” Khudyakov. “I guess it was the Sun.”

Brookline’s comeback began when Isidora Beslic bounced back from a second set loss with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 triumph over Wellesley’s Alexis Tsang at second singles.

“I think I lost focus and decided to take it point by point,” said Beslic on what happened in her second set.

Knowing what was on the line, Beslic picked up her game and controlled the third set.

“I started to feel the pressure more, but that’s when I started to play my best,” Beslic said. “I was much more motivated after that.”

Shortly after Beslic put the Warriors on the board, Ana Driscoll and Mia Gurevich tied it for Brookline with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win at first doubles over Kate Burton and Eshaa Gautham.

Monet Riseborough gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Pilar Hincapie at third singles. Wellesley made it 2-0 with its second doubles tandem of Jessica Cheng and Hayley Genta winning a close first set before controlling the second set with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Rebecca Schein and Liliana Lines.

In the regular season, Wellesley defeated Brookline 3-2 at home April 11. The Warriors won the rematch 5-0, May 4, on their home court, Waldstein Park. This familiarity helped both squads in the rubber match, according to Mallory. Brookline didn’t face Acton-Boxborough this year, which could produce an element of surprise for both teams.

“Whenever you play a match against a team you don’t know, it takes three to five games to figure your opponent out,” Mallory said. “[On the key to winning on Monday], We have to play as a team.”

The Warriors lost 4-1 to Andover in the 2015 Eastern Mass finals. Going into the match, both teams were undefeated. Khudyakov went to the Eastern Mass finals in her rookie year and hopes to end her scholastic career with two more wins.

“This year, we have a better chance with stronger doubles team,” said an optimistic Khudyakov heading into the Final Four.

- This post and photos were by Eliot Schickler who is currently a Brookline resident. Schickler was the sports editor for the Westport News for 12 years.

First photo. The Brookline girls tennis team holds its Division 1 South Sectional Title banner in celebration of its 3-2 victory over Wellesley Friday.

Second photo. Brookline senior captain Sonya Khudyakov holds the Division 1 South Sectional Championship plaque after clinching the team's 3-2 victory over Wellesley Friday in the Division 1 South Sectional finals.

Third photo, Brookline girls tennis players celebrate the Division 1 South Sectional title Friday by congratulating senior captain Sonya Khudyakov after she clinched the overall team match with a 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4 win at first singles over Wellesley. The Warriors vanquished Wellesley, 3-2 at Medway High School.