After holding off a gritty Winchester team 3-2 in Sunday’s quarterfinal showdown, Boston Latin girls’ tennis coach Paulanne Wilson had to think for a moment to remember the last time the Wolfpack had advanced deep into the Div. 1 tournament.
“It’s been a while since we’ve gotten to the quarters, but we lost, so this is a big thing for us,” said Wilson of her top-seeded, unbeaten (19-0) squad. “We knew this was going to happen. I mean, you don’t take anything for granted. I knew they were coming and they meant business. They’ve been here before a lot of times. When you get to this point either you win or you lose.”
The afternoon was certainly a dramatic one as the 9th-seeded Red & Black (16-4) tried to extend its season. Winchester’s Daryana Skobeleva and the second doubles squad of Sophie Kim and Andrea Bilic were victorious matches, tying the contest at 2-2 with Latin’s Vanessa Vu locked in a three-hour match with Winchester’s Claire Lupien.
Both players were fighting fatigue in the third set, but it was the freshman Vu who dropped in scoring shots close to the net for the win (6-7, 6-2, 6-4), clinching a trip to the semifinals against defending state champion Lexington. The Red & Blue picked up a huge win against the Minutemen on May 21, making the semifinal match loom even bigger.
Halina Nguyen, the Wolfpack’s freshman No. 1 singles player, felt sluggish early against Kaitlin Tan, but bulled her way through to a 6-0, 6-0 win.
“It was really hot out,” said Nguyen. “I could feel it affecting me. I just felt really heavy. My forehands were definitely the reason I won today because I was able to manipulate the shots even better.”
Nguyen is looking forward to going up against Lexington’s terrific No. 1 singles player Diya Pachamuthu after nerves got the better of her in their last match.
“Last time I played her she gave me a lot of short balls,” said Nguyen. “Just balls that were basically around the service line. And in tennis those are the balls you have to take advantage of and the ones you have to win. Last time I played her I was so nervous even though I know I should have lost that match. I was just hitting it back, you know? I wasn’t finishing the point.”
Wilson stressed the importance of Boston Latin staying focused and engaged moving forward. “We’ll approach it the same way,” she said. “Everybody needs to stay focused, play their game, have confidence and know they can win. We have to play aggressive. You can’t be on your heels. You have to be on your toes.”
