Lady Warriors Look Forward to 2022

By Eliot Schickler

The Brookline High girls tennis team is looking forward to a promising 2022 season.

Brookline awaits a promising 2022 after making giant strides in 2021, starting with stellar play at the top of its lineup. Lady Warrior junior Caroline Driscoll and her sister, freshman Maddie Driscoll, were undefeated at first and second singles, respectively. Caroline Driscoll lost only one game (not sets or matches, but actual games) while Maddie fell short in just a mere five games.

The Driscoll’s classmates have also made giant strides and Brookline has a few strong incoming freshmen, led by Riley Avent, who could also put the team over the top. Lady Warriors head coach Rebecca Hehn and assistant coach Karen McNamara have also lifted the program by providing tennis expertise and dynamic leadership.

“We have a lot of talent returning and we’ll only get better,” Hehn said.

Two huge accomplishments Brookline should be proud of is that it won the First Ever (and possibly last) Bay State Conference title (all sports played conference tournaments this school year because there was no state tournaments for fall and winter sports. No word yet on whether conference tournaments are back next year). The second Lady Warrior accomplishment was that they won Bay States over Wellesley High. In fact, Brookline compiled a 2-2 record against Wellesley and was the only team to beat the Division 1 South Sectional champion this spring.

“We definitely have a good chance,” said outgoing Lady Warriors senior captain Gaby Toppelberg, who believes the team will be in very good hands next year. “I confident we can win it next year.”

Unfortunately for Brookline, its season was bookended by 3-2 losses at Wellesley. The seventh-seeded Lady Warriors lost the season opener there and the Division 1 South Sectional Semifinals at the third-seeded Lady Raiders – the latter setback taking place June 24 to finish the year at 14-4.

“It was sad because we beat them twice this season and we’ve been growing since the beginning of the season,” Toppelberg said. “It sucks to lose to a team we beat before.”

Caroline Driscoll was masterful at her regular first singles position by bageling senior Haley Genta, 6-0, 6-0.

“I just stayed focused and played every point with the intention of getting it and I played my hardest,” Caroline said.

The elder Driscoll, who is arguably the best player in Massachusetts, looked she was leagues above Genta with a masterful serve and coming to net where she overhead forehand slams for winners. She also played well defensively by getting to many balls that appeared to be out of her reach and she also tapped winners in the shallow part of the gap.

“I just tried to think about what shot to make and when,” Caroline said. “I tried not to think too much, I went out there and played my game.”

Maddie Driscoll, who missed the 5-0 June 21 win over second-seeded Bridgewater-Raynham because of a sore shoulder, won 6-1, 6-1 over freshman lefty Maria Lila Shutts.

“I was able to hit the ball deep and get to the net and finish the point,” Maddie said. “She was playing well, so credit to her, and I made some unforced errors, which was because of nerves.”

This was the most games the younger Driscoll lost all year, but she still played a great match and showed a lot of commanding and moxie despite her shoulder problems.

“My shoulder was bothering me today,” Maddie said. “I had to take it easy and I tried my best.”

The Younger Driscoll’s serve was on and ended the match with a winner from the baseline during her serve. She was especially deft with crosscourt shots, which landed winners.

Shutts is different than most – if not all of Maddie’s opponents. Usually, she has faced right handed opponents, but against the Wellesley freshman, she battled against a southpaw – which meant the younger Driscoll virtually played a different type of game than normal.

“She has a lefty spin and it’s difficult because her weakness is on the opposite side, and I had to adjust,” Maddie said.

The Lady Raiders got the points at third singles and first doubles in straight sets. Lady Warrior sophomore Lily Feldman played hard at third singles, but senior Lucy Plenge was the better player with a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

Going into their match at first doubles, Brookline senior southpaw Donya Shah and junior Fiona McGill were undefeated at first doubles, but were moved up to first doubles where they ran into a buzzsaw in the form of senior Olivia Gabbay and sophomore Molly Plenge. Gabbay and Molly Plenge were victorious, 6-2, 6-0.

This set up a reconstituted second doubles squad of Toppelberg and classmate Kaya Vadhan. Vadhan has had at least three previous partners at first doubles this year and Toppelberg usually played at third singles. The captain moved up to second singles and bageled her opponent, 6-0, 6-0 in the Bridgewater-Raynham match.

“We knew we needed to win at second doubles,” McNamara said. “We’ve been relying on Caroline and Maddie all season at first and second doubles and they have been coming through. We tried to secure the win at second doubles behind Gabby, who is our strongest player after the Driscoll sisters.”

For Toppelberg, this was her first doubles match in 2021.

“It was different, but I was excited to play, honestly,” Toppelberg said. “I haven’t played doubles since my freshman year, and I practiced it with my dad the day before the match and it came in handy. It was a fun experience.”

Toppelberg and Vadhan won the first set over seniors Tess Miller and Margot Galligan, but after that set, the new duo found out that the other four matches were decided and their match was for the right to play fourth-seeded Hopkinton High for the South Sectional title. Many Wellesley residents also found out and congregated near the court to support Miller and Galligan, who have vast experience playing as a tandem.

“Since we never played together, it was a lot to get used to, and we felt the pressure, which got into our heads,” Toppelberg said. “Wellesley also had a big crowd supporting them, which was distracting to us.”

Miller and Galligan blanked Toppelberg and Vadhan in the second set, 6-0, which set up a deciding third set. After taking a 1-0 lead in the win or go home set, Toppelberg and Vadhan lost the next four games, giving Miller and Galligan a 4-1 lead.

The Lady Warrior duo began its comeback with Vadhan serving well in the next game and Toppelberg’s overhead forehand slam for a winner at the net made it 4-2. Toppelberg and Vadhan then broke Galligan’s serve with Vadhan lobbing a winner, which was sandwiched between two Toppelberg winners, the first one on a tap near the net and a second on a passing shot down the alley.

Brookline clearly had the momentum and was on the verge of tying it after Toppelberg’s service ace. However, errors plagued the Lady Warriors for the next four points and they lost the game.

“Today wasn’t our day,” McNamara said. “It came down to errors and we couldn’t close out the game [which would have tied the set].”

Toppelberg said, “They were hitting angled shots and when they came to net, they hit it and made it hard for us.”

After making it 5-3, Miller and Galligan reclaimed the momentum behind the former’s serve. On the last point, Toppelberg and Vadhan fought valiantly, but Galligan closed it out on the 12th return with a crosscourt winner at the net.

Wellesley, which raised its record to 17-2, made it 18-2 June 26 with a 3-2 home win over Hopkinton in the South Sectional finals. The Lady Raiders ended the year at 18-3 with a 3-2 loss at North Division champion Acton-Boxboro. Acton-Boxboro ended the year at 16-0 by three-peating as state champs with a 5-0 verdict over Central Division Shrewsbury June 29.

Despite falling short, the Lady Warriors know they had a pretty good year.

“We did an excellent job this year,” Hehn said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t win today, but overall, we had an amazing season.”

Toppelberg said, “It shows we have a lot of depth on our team and once we put our minds to it, we can win.”