Woodstock
The top-seeded Wasps (16-1) won their first championship since 2000. The No. 3 Solons (8-5) were the two-time reigning champions.
Twin sisters Momo and Kenzie Biele both needed third-set tiebreakers to win their singles matches at No. 1 and No. 4, respectively. Momo beat Lyvia Bashara, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 10-5, and Kenzie held off Brynn Bushey, 4-6, 6-2, 12-10. Woodstock’s Grace Frazier won her match at No. 3 singles — 6-4, 6-3 — as did the No. 2 doubles tandem of Lydia Howe and Olivia Mariscovetere, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2.
The revenge factor was at play on Thursday.
“Their resolve was seen very early,” coach Tom Hopewell said. “At the end of last year, it was 4-3 (in Montpelier’s favor). They certainly remembered that and have worked every week and every month since then to get better.”
Both Biele twins maintained a cool exterior while facing the threat of elimination in the first-to-10, third-set tiebreaker format.
“It’s a mental roller coaster every time,” Momo Biele said. “But I try to keep myself together. And just kind of repeat in my head over and over, ‘I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.’ Because I feel like in the end, I need to play confidently to win it.”
Kenzie Biele employed some calming self-talk as well.
“That was hard, very hard,” she said moments after her match ended in dramatic fashion. “I kept telling myself I wasn’t going to lose today. … My emotions are all over the place when I play tennis.”
Kenzie faced down a match point before winning the tiebreak with a crafty lob shot over the charging Bushey.
“That lob at the end was amazing,” Hopewell said. “You don’t get a lot of seasoned veterans doing that shot.”
The Bieles showed solid net play in their narrow victories, using an array of fine volleys to gain the upper hand.
“I would say volleys are probably my weakest shot,” Momo Biele said. “But I know that they are a really offensive shot in general, and it shows dominance if you can come up to the net during a point, so I’ve been working at that and trying to get better at that.”
What does Momo’s sister think about volley shots? “That’s my favorite part of the game,” Mackenzie Biele said. “I feel like I’m better at the net, so I try to do it as much as possible.”
Frazier’s victory over Kelsey Golonka at No. 2 was slightly less stress-inducing, yet equally impressive. The junior exhibited a solid repertoire, often varying the speed of her shots to keep Golonka on her toes. Frazier’s scorching winners ultimately proved too much for her Montpelier opponent.
The Wasps held a 3-2 advantage with two remaining matches in progress. Both newcomers to the sport, Howe and Mariscovetere, proceeded to come up huge in what proved to be the decisive match of the day at No. 2 doubles.
“We have a really strong freshmen doubles team, so that really helped,” Frazier said of the two rookies. “They work together so good as a team and are so supportive.”
Hopewell, in his 19th year of coaching the Wasps, was impressed with the well-fought, competitive matches across the board on Thursday. “This was a sterling example of what high school tennis is all about,” he said.
Hopewell says he hopes to see his team’s schedule strengthened next year by adding Montpelier to the regular season docket along with a second matchup against Division I Mt. Anthony, the only team that beat Woodstock this season.