Last spring three Recorder area girls tennis teams appeared in the inaugural MIAA Div. 4 state tournament. 

More are hoping to join this year, with two of those already out to strong starts. Frontier and Mohawk Trail — which squared off as the Nos. 32 and 33 seeds, respectively, in the preliminary round last year — won their opening matches of the season on Tuesday. The Redhawks cruised to a 4-1 victory over Palmer while the Warriors swept singles to earn a 3-2 win against Renaissance. 

It was a good start for both teams, which are each trying to replace their top singles players from a season ago. Emma Clancy graduated from Frontier while Avery Dupree graduated from Mohawk Trail, leaving both squads with a hole at the top of the lineup. 

Sydney Scanlon, who rotated between singles and doubles last year, stepped into the No. 1 spot for Frontier while Palmer King, who played No. 3 singles for the Warriors a year ago, was the No. 1 for Mohawk Trail to open this season. 

Maddie Power and Sam Baker also returned for the Redhawks, both slotting into the singles lineup. Chloe Felton-Emrick, Hashini Ratnatunge, Rebecca Wallace-West and Thanushi Ratnatunge are others to watch for Frontier, serving in doubles during the opening match. 

For the Warriors, Paige King slots into the No. 2 singles spot once again while Hazel Foucault won her opening match of the season at No. 3 singles. Lauryn Lovett, Dakota Cusimano, Ivan Hillenbrand and Landon Clark will see time in doubles for Mohawk Trail. 

Greenfield was the third local squad to make an appearance in last year’s state tournament, being the highest-seeded team at No. 24.

The Green Wave fell to Lee in the Round of 32 and now will be tasked with replacing Jenna Keith, who spent the last two seasons as Greenfield’s No. 1 singles player. Estera Covalenco and Kaitlyn Phillips also graduated, leaving the Green Wave with three big holes to fill in the lineup. 

Kaitlyn Collins is the lone returning senior, slotting into the No. 1 singles spot for Greenfield. Rebecca Covalenco, Isabella Semonelli, Lydia Wood, Madelyne Mosher and Mireb Gheorghita are fellow returners who will compete for the Green Wave while newcomers Jessica Mihailicenco, Amy Mihailicenco, Lily Duong, Emy-Elis Iavorschi, Auburn Mass, Birginia Rahubenco and Tsering Tridytsang are newcomers who will also compete for Greenfield. 

Every player who competed for Turners on Tuesday against St. Mary’s — Steph Peterson, Maria LaBelle and Rachel Hayes in singles, Jill Reynolds, Mady Lilly, Emma Harmon and Holly Hicks in doubles — are returners from last year, giving the Thunder plenty of experience in the lineup. 

With over 20 players on the team, Turners will have plenty of competition for spots. Coach Victor Gonzalez said he hopes his team can grow throughout the season. 

“We have a lot of seniors,” Gonzalez said. “We’re hoping for the best. We have a lot of new kids, too, who are working hard to get in the lineup.” 

On the boys’ side, Frontier earned a spot in the Div. 4 state tournament where it was the No. 23 seed. It fell to Lee in the Round of 32, but unlike the girls teams which advanced to the state tournament a year ago, the Redhawks are bringing back their top singles player in Coleman Hartner. 

Jacob Han and Oliver Brown slide up from No. 1 doubles to filling out the departed single positions while Harry Wright, Caiden Manning, Donovan Vichi and Ben Desmond fill out the doubles spots for Frontier, which opened its season with a 5-0 triumph against SICS.

All four of those doubles players are returning for the Redhawks, giving it a lineup full of players with experience on the court. 

The Turners boys tennis team struggled to fill out a lineup last year, often having to forfeit spots which hurt its record. That shouldn’t be the case this spring, as the Thunder have put together a full lineup to compete. 

Mike Boyle, Jake Reich and John Carmichael are three of the returners for Turners — Boyle and Reich competing in singles while Carmichael slides into No. 1 doubles with Vaughn Lavalley. 

Noah Kolodziej, Patrick Andrews and Max Griere are newcomers for the Thunder.

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