Lady Warriors Continue to Net Victories

By Eliot Schickler

The Brookline High girls tennis team has turned up the heat as the season progressed.

Third-seeded Brookline continued its torrid play with a 3-2 victory at top-seeded Wellesley High Tuesday in the first-ever Bay State Conference Championship match, raising its record to 12-3. Wellesley dropped to 14-2.

“It was a really exciting match,” Lady Warriors head coach Rebecca Hehn said. “The girls played well and our teamwork helped us.”

Brookline opened the Driscoll Bakery at first and second singles with the Driscoll sisters serving nonstop bagels. Junior Caroline Driscoll and her sister, freshman Maddy Driscoll, bageled their opponents, 6-0, 6-0 at first and second singles, respectively. The Driscoll sisters sent their Lady Raiders opponents to the sidelines in matches that lasted less than an hour.

Both Driscolls are undefeated. Not only did they win every single match in straight sets, losing a game has been a rarity for them. Caroline Driscoll bageled every opponent but one and lost only one game all year (not a set, not a match, but an actual game). Maddy has also been unstoppable and has lost only two games this spring.

Senior captain Gabby Toppelberg lost a tough match at third singles, 6-1, 7-5, but played hard against a tough opponent. Toppelberg sports a 7-5 individual record this year. At first doubles, senior Kaya Vadhan and junior Anika Maya lost 6-1, 6-0.

The Lady Warriors won the match at second doubles with senior Donya Shah and junior Fiona McGill winning the match, 6-4, 6-0. Shah and McGill are an undefeated tandem since they were paired together midway in the season.

It didn’t start off well Brookline’s duo as Wellesley’s pair took a 4-1 lead. However, Shah and McGill were undaunted and won nine straight games to claim the match and the conference title for their school.

“We received a lot of help from [Lady Warriors assistant] Coach Karen [McNamara],” said Shah on the key to their nine straight wins. “She gave us good advice, we focused more and took it one point at a time, one game at a time. We focused on being consistent.”

Although Shah and McGill put Brookline over the top, they were undaunted by the situation.

“I didn’t feel that much pressure because I did not know what the other players did,” McGill said. “I was confident that the Driscoll sisters would win and thought maybe either third singles or first doubles would win. We’re having a good season and I’m happy about it.”

Working in the Lady Warriors’ favor is their improvement as the season progressed. Brookline lost the season-opener at Wellesley, 3-2 May 6 and fell 3-2 to Needham High at Waldstein Park on May 14 to drop to 3-2.

Following their setback to Needham, the Lady Warriors won nine out of their next 10 matches, including a 4-1 win at second-seeded Needham June 11 in the Bay State Conference semifinals. Brookline’s only blemish in that period was a 3-2 decision at Braintree May 24. In the loss in Braintree, the Lady Warriors were missing their top two players.

“We were able to secure a better lineup and everyone was comfortable in their positions,” said Toppelberg on the key to Brookline’s sizzling play. “We became like a family and developed camaraderie and everyone cheered each other on.”

The Lady Warriors avenged their setback to Wellesley in the regular season with a 4-1 home win over the Lady Raiders May 27.

“We learned how to work with each other, especially at doubles where teamwork is required,” Hehn said. “The girls got more comfortable with each other as the season progressed.”

Seventh-seeded Brookline will have a chance to avenge another loss Friday June 18 when hosts 10th-seeded Braintree, who enter the match with a 9-5 record, at Waldstein Park in the Division 1 South Sectional Playoffs. Unlike the regular-season match, the Lady Warriors expect to have their full lineup.

With Brookline being on a roll, it has the potential to win the South Sectional title, followed by the Eastern Mass and State titles. If the Driscoll sisters continue to serve bagels and at the very least, win every match, which they are favored to do, all the Lady Warriors will need is one more point in each match to rule Division 1.

“It will take a lot of confidence and support from the other players,” Toppelberg said. “We want to win and confident we’ll get one or two more wins [in each match] to get the trophy.”

Health is also important. Although Brookline appears to be the hottest team, its House of Cards could come tumbling down if it suffers any injury or bad break in the tournament. Just look at this year’s NBA playoffs and Many March Madness tournaments.

“I think we’ll go out with a positive attitude and everyone will play their game,” McNamara said.

Toppelberg said, “I’m really excited. Everyone wants to win and have a positive attitude. Everyone is supporting each other. We’re psyched, we haven’t lost a match in a while hope to keep our momentum going.”