Winchester Girls Lose Dramatic State Final To Martha's Vineyard

SHREWSBURY, Ma. - It was a strategy no one expected, devised between coach and player during a break between sets. And for a while, it worked.

The Division 2 girls' tennis state final between Winchester and Martha's Vineyard was tied 2-2, and it all came down to the third set of the No. 3 singles match between the Sachems' Nicole Costales and the Vineyard's Hannah Rabasca. Down a set after losing to Rabasca, 6-2, both Costales and coach Greg Lowder knew something had to change. Enter the lob.

"We realized that Hannah really did a good job hitting the ball through the court so we just tried to slow the points down and rely on the fact that maybe Nicole could outlast her," said Lowder of the strategy to start lobbing every return to Rabasca. "Maybe we could outlast Hannah and get her to make some mistakes."

In the second set it worked and Costales came back to even the match with a 6-3 win.

"It did [work]. We tried to create long points," said Lowder. "Nicole is fit. She can run for days. It was a matter of giving her a chance to wear the other girl down. It's not an easy thing to do. It requires a lot of patience, a lot of discipline but thankfully Nicole is really good at that."

With all the matches done, the focus now was on one match, one set, for a state title.

When Rabasca broke Costales' serve twice while holding her own, it was 3-0 in the final set. But the Winchester senior kept to her strategy and along with her ability to chase down balls Costales squared the set at 3-3. It went to 4-4 before Rabasca broke Costales for the fourth time. Ahead 5-4, Rabasca held her own serve to win and give Martha's Vineyard a fifth straight state championship.

"Hannah just cranked up her game in that third set and she rarely missed a ball," said Lowder. "Credit to her, she found her game. Nicole had some really nice comebacks in the last set but Hannah found a way to take it."

With the win, Martha's Vineyard (21-0) has gone 105-1 over the past five years, losing only a regular season match to Sharon in 2017.

Martha's Vineyard points all came from singles with Kelly Klaren beating Caroline Fredey at first singles, 6-0, 6-0; and Victoria Scott beating Winchester's Olivia DeMichaelis, 6-3, 6-0 at second singles. Winchester (20-2) took both doubles matches with Taylor Kenrich and Lauren Chilton winning 6-4, 6-4 at first doubles and Grace Thompson and Maddy Tahnk taking second doubles, 6-1, 6-2. For seniors Kenrich and Chilton, it was the second straight year they beat their Vineyard opponents.

"The result is disappointing but it doesn't change how I look at the season," said Lowder. "It was an amazing year. This group of girls, they were just the best, and that's far more important."