Grey Ghosts Repeat As State Champions

On the day that the Boston Bruins earned their first Stanley Cup championship in nearly 40 years, the Westford Grey Ghosts girls’ tennis team earned their first Division 1 state championship in nearly 12 months.

While Westford Academy had a slightly more difficult path to victory than they saw against Division 1 South Sectional champion Needham on Monday, they still were only slightly tested in their 4-1 victory against West Sectional champ Amherst on Wednesday afternoon at Clark University’s Corash Tennis Courts in Worcester.

The Ghosts got on the scoreboard early with a pair of doubles wins, with Brittany Leonard and Sydney Diamond earning a 6-4, 6-2 win, with Alesia Raczelowski and Kristina Kea doing even better against their doubles opponents, taking home a 6-1, 6-2 victory.

That set the stage for senior captain Hannah Wang to clinch the state championship in her singles contest against Juliana Gensheimer below of the shade of the far side court. She was able to grab the first set, 6-1, but once the doubles victories sunk in on the courts behind her, Gensheimer began to rally.

Still, Wang would not be denied, taking the second set 7-5 which was all Westford needed for the championship.

“I looked over and I saw both doubles had won and here I was close to winning the third point,” said Wang, who plans to attend the University of Chicago next year. “I was a bit nervous, but at the same time I was kind of excited because I knew I had it in me and the team had it in us.”

Unlike the championship clinching victory last year, Wang believed this year was even more special because she stepped into a role of being a leader on the team, a team whose members continue to root for each other even after they graduate.

“I’ll be a bit farther away than I’d like to be (in Chicago), but even when I graduated, I knew that I was still part of this team,” said Wang. “I know that I still have close friends on the team and I’ll still be a supporter.”

While Wang’s victory might have been the key to the team’s victory, Caitlyn Paltsios’ win over the top ranked girls’ player in the state, Maya Hart, may have been the most poignant.

Paltsios dropped the first set 6-2, but bounced back to take the next two sets 6-4, 6-4.

“That was the best match Caitlyn played all season, she’s an incredible player,” said Westford head coach Tracy Capone. “She started getting her head together, getting a lot of balls back, and I think her confidence grew and grew. I don’t think Maya’s played three sets or lost in a few years and Caitlyn just carried on.”

The Ghosts couldn’t pull out the sweep, but they did come awful close, as Brianna Leonard took the first set against Nicole McCann 7-5 before losing the second set 6-4 and the final set in a super tiebreaker 10-7 to end the contest once and for all.

While Wang leaves, Paltsios and Leonard will return next year on a team that’s bringing back five seniors, although nobody wearing the red and grey’s allowed to say dynasty just yet.

“It’ll be another season to look forward to,” said Capone.