The Middlesex Girls' Varsity Tennis team won its match 13 - 1 against Thayer Academy Saturday afternoon. Rainy conditions pushed the match indoors to the Weymouth Club.

Senior captain Maud McCole went up against Thayer's senior captain at #1 singles. Both girls are 4-year varsity players on their respective teams, but this was the first spring they had a chance to face each other. The girls played a competitive match they both could feel good about, splitting sets 4 - 6, 6 - 1. Neha Kommineni '22 played a fierce first set, in her debut at #2, winning the point 6 - 1. Her focus waned a bit in the second, as she worked to keep momentum going in her direction. Nevertheless, her solid strokes and mental toughness prevailed, and she captured the second set 7 - 5. Marissa Fadely '22 played a confident, strong match at #3. Even though each point and each game were competitive, Marissa managed to outhit her opponent to secure both sets 6 - 0, 6 - 1. Junior Averill Emery's serves were on in the first set. That with the good point construction she's been honing this spring enabled her to take both her sets at #4, even when her opponent cranked it up in the second set. At #5 singles, Jessie Andrews '21 was well-matched with her opponent in a grueling consistency battle. Off to a big lead, she struggled to stay ahead and was pushed into a tiebreaker. Ultimately, she won the mental battle and clinched the set. Bringing the positive momentum into her second set, it was still a competitive fight with each point going back and forth. However, she was able to outhit the Thayer player to take the second set 6 - 3. Katy Qin '21 stepped up to play #6 singles. In the competitive first set, Katy made some important adjustments to her stroke to improve her consistency and harness her power. That, combined with savvy ball placement to keep her opponent on the move, won her both sets 6 - 4, 6 - 2. 

The Zebras had won the overall match before heading into doubles. At #1, Kommineni and Fadely made an intuitive team -- they played aggressive points and worked together to take the set 8 - 2. McCole and Emery played together again for the first time since last season. With a proven track record of being a steady, solid pair, they made smart adjustments to their opponents and won the set 8 - 6.