Girls’ Tennis Continues Flair for Dramatics

WESTERLY – For the second straight match, the Narragansett High School girls’ tennis team used a heart attack inducing final game to win.

Last Thursday, the No. 3 doubles team of senior Jackie Harig and freshman Eily Sullivan won the match against South Kingstown, thanks to a 7-5 tiebreaker in the second set and a 7-5 tally in the third set.

On Tuesday, it was the No. 1 doubles team of juniors Eliza DeCubellis and Victoria McGreen that provided the dramatics for Narragansett (8-4, 7-4 Division II-South) against Westerly (3-8, 3-8 Division II-South).

After a tough 7-5 win the first set, the Mariners squandered a 4-2 advantage in the second. The Bulldogs duo of freshman Margo Douglas and junior Shelby Harold battled back, winning the next three points to take a 5-4 lead.

Down 40-15 at one point and facing three set points, the Mariners rallied to win the point. Westerly again won the next point, taking a 6-5 lead, but up 30-love, the Bulldogs couldn’t convert on four set points, forcing a tiebreaker.

However, in the second set tiebreaker, the momentum swung back to Westerly. The Mariners jumped out to a 3-2 lead, but the Bulldogs took a commanding 6-2 lead on an ace by Harold, a slam at the net by Douglas and two Narragansett errors. Westerly won the tiebreaker 7-4 on another slam by Douglas at the net.

The momentum seemingly on their side, the Bulldogs went up 2-0 in the third set. Every other match had been over for about 30 minutes, the temperature dipped into the mid-50s, and the sun had set long ago, as No. 1 doubles crawled into its third hour.

However, the Mariners resisted a collapse. Narragansett head coach Russ Wyatt gave his team advice between points.

“Take a deep breathe,” he calmly told McGreen and DeCubellis. “Dig down deep. You want this.”

At that point, the Mariners finally broke the serve of the Bulldogs, earning a point. They lost the next two points, to fall behind 4-2, but were competitive in the two games.

Simply put, Narragansett refused to make anything easy for Westerly. After tying the set at 4-4, breaking a Westerly serve in the process, Narragansett again trailed 30-love. They scored the next four points though, to take a 5-4 lead in the set.

McGreen said she followed DeCubellis’ advice to stay loose between points.

“She said to sing songs in my head,” McGreen said of her teammate. “It worked, and we tried to dance around a bit too, to stay warm.”

At that point, Douglas and Harold simply seemed to finally run out of gas. The Mariners won the next four points to win the set, and to take the match.

McGreen exclaimed with delight following the match, as Wyatt hugged her and DeCubellis in the cage – she hadn’t known that their match-up was the one that won it for the Mariners.

“I probably knew it subconsciously,” she said afterward, adding that her reaction to the win was, “’Oh thank god!’”

DeCubellis laughed when asked about it, and said, “I assumed it.” As she and McGreen played, spectators for both teams cheered each point wildly.

DeCubellis said the win was a key to securing postseason seeding for the Mariners as a team, and for her and McGreen on any postseason All-Division teams.

“It’s definitely a confidence boosters,” she said, adding that it was nice to be on the winning end of a tiebreaker and third set. “This was our closest win yet.”

Asked about that final game, Wyatt said it wasn’t for the faint of heart. On a scale from one to 10, he categorized his own anxiety at “about 20.”

“A lot of credit goes to Eliza and Victoria,” he said, adding, “I’m very proud of the girls overall.”

Narragansett was in a position to win thanks to its strong doubles play.

Harig and Sullivan finished about 30 minutes before McGreen and DeCubellis, struggling to finish off a weaker Westerly squad as the drama unfolded on the far court from them. At No. 2 doubles, the Bulldogs didn’t challenge sophomores Kristen Gershkoff and Olivia Scalora.

The Mariners got their sole singles point from junior Gabby Smith. She held off Westerly’s Maddie Douglas, Margo’s twin, 6-3, 6-2.

Until the drama at No. 1 doubles, it looked like the match of the day was at No. 3 singles, between Narragansett junior Heather Dorich and Westerly junior Rachel Laudone.

Dorich struggled in the first set, dropping it 6-3 to Laudone. However, she jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second.

From that point forward though, Laudone took control. She broke Dorich’s serve three times, en route to a come-from-behind 7-5 second set win.

Westerly’s other set of twins, Alexis and Alexandra Hayes at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, beat Narragansett’s Mary Kate Sullivan and Annie Hall for the Bulldogs’ other two points.

The win positions the Mariners well for the postseason, assuming they can win matches they’re supposed to win.

The Mariners have matches left with Chariho (0-11, 0-11 Division II) and Middletown (6-5, 6-5 Division II-South). The Mariners won at Chariho 6-1 on Sept. 26, and at Middletown 4-3 on Sept. 22.

Narragansett hosts Chariho Thursday and Middletown next Tuesday. Both matches are at 3:45 p.m. at Sprague Park. The Mariners end their regular season Oct. 20 at East Greenwich (11-0, 11-0 Division II-South).