Martha's Vineyard Rematch Next For Lynnfield Girls' Tennis

June of 2014 was a long time ago for Sarah Mezini and her fellow seniors on the Lynnfield girls' tennis team. But if any of the six seniors forget what it's like to win a state title, they're two wins from experiencing it a second time.

Lynnfield beat Austin Prep, 5-0, Friday at Beverly High School to win the Division 3 North title for the fourth straight year. The Pioneers (19-1) will play South champion Martha's Vineyard (19-1) in the state semifinals Monday at 3:30 p.m. at Lexington High School. Vineyard beat Lynnfield, 4-1, in this same match last year and went on to win the state title.

"I'm definitely not giving up just because we graduated. I'm still in it," said the UMass-bound Mezini, who beat AP's Marie-Elena Gerety at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-0. "I won't consider that I've officially graduated until we win something this year. We just won this, so there's that. There's no giving up until the end. I don't think anyone's giving up, regardless of graduating or not. This team has a lot of talent and we all know we can make it somewhere this year."

The specifics may be a little fuzzy, by Mezini has good feelings about 2014.

"Freshman year was probably the best year I've ever had in tennis," said Mezini, although she couldn't recall who Lynnfield beat in the state final (it was Notre Dame of Worcester). "I mean, I was young, I had nothing to lose. I probably played my best tennis that year. I'm hoping we do the same this year because as a team, we're really good."

It was a good day to be a Pioneer senior. At No. 2 singles, Camie Foley beat AP's Silvanna Salines, 6-1, 6-1. At No. 3, Katie Nevils beat the Cougars' Olivia Caruso, 6-0, 6-1.

In No. 1 doubles, in a match that lasted two hours, senior Katie Nugent teamed with sophomore Alexa Vittiglio to beat AP's Mia Han and Jenna Costello, 7-6, 7-6. At No. 2 doubles, seniors Allison Carey and Laura Mucci beat AP's Jackie Chouinard and Danielle Abdennour, 6-1, 6-3.

Austin Prep, which didn't have a single senior on the court, finished its season at 18-4.

As for Martha's Vineyard, the Islanders have won four tournament matches, all by 5-0 scores. Their only loss this year was to Sharon, 3-2. Their No. 1 doubles team of Liz Williamson and Victoria Scott won the South individual title and No. 1 singles player Kat Roberts lost in the South individual semifinals.