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‘Couldn’t have been any closer’: NDA tennis finishes one set shy of perfect season

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6 months ago

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‘Couldn’t have been any closer’: NDA tennis finishes one set shy of perfect season

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Perfection is poetic. The journey to capture it entails many ups and averting untimely downs.

The 2007 New England Patriots know all too well.

So does this year’s Notre Dame Academy tennis team. Though, this time, David Tyree was nowhere to be seen. A one-of-one helmet catch wasn’t the Cougars’ culprit.

Notre Dame Academy (19-1) entered this year’s Division 2 tournament as the No. 1 seed, winner of all 15 regular season matches — only three by a 3-2 split. The team advanced to the final and was tied at two sets apiece entering the deciding frame.

Second-seeded Longmeadow spoiled the bid at an undefeated season by winning, 3-2, and earning its first title since 1995.

“It couldn’t have been any closer,” second-year coach Joanne Healey said of the match. “We came in second, which we’re still super proud of. It was a great season.”

More: NDA, Cohasset reign supreme: South Shore high school girls lacrosse rankings

Notre Dame Academy built on last year’s 15-5 season and Final Four berth to make one stride further in the tournament.

First singles player Amelia Maw, of Plymouth, a senior captain, is the lone upperclassmen in the Cougars’ lineup. She’s joined by eighth grader Sophia Lirio (Abington, second singles), sophomore Vivienne La Grassa (Norwell, third singles), sophomore Clara Healey (Hanover, first doubles), freshman Schuyler Bunge (Cohasset, first doubles), freshman Julia Walsh (Hingham, second doubles) and eighth grader Molly Dunigan (Norwell, second doubles).

“I don’t think (the run) was ahead of schedule, (the final) just could’ve gone either way,” Joanne Healey said. “We made it to the Final Four last year and it was mostly the same lineup, so they really matured that much more and worked on their game over the year. We really felt like we had a strong lineup. With the girls being so young, hopefully it’ll be that way going forward for the next couple years.”

Maw, who’s bound for the University of Virginia next year, went 17-3 individually this season after an All-Scholastic junior campaign in which she won 11 matches in first singles last spring. Maw won the Coach’s Award at the team’s banquet on Monday and Healey credits her for being the leader of the team, saying she was “a great role model for the younger kids.”

One of those younger players is Lirio, who went 13-4 as an All-Scholastic seventh grader last year, and went 20-0 individually this time around. Healey says Lirio will “seamlessly” slide into Maw’s void on the first court for her freshman year next spring.

“She just works really hard at it. She just loves tennis,” the coach said of Lirio. “When she came out to tryouts last year, we were blown away. We were like, ‘Where’d she come from?’ We were thrilled to have her.”

Turning points

Last year, Healey’s first as the varsity coach, NDA advanced to the Final Four as the No. 10 seed despite starting the season with a 2-4 record. Things changed quickly as the Cougars entered tournament play on a 10-game winning streak.

“We were still trying to figure out pairings and where everybody should play. About a quarter of the way through the season, it kind of jelled,” Healey said. “We found everyone’s positions and were on a roll from there. We ironed out the kinks and it was smooth sailing after that.”

That parlayed itself into a strong start this year, which featured a noteworthy 3-2 win over Bishop Feehan on April 25. Feehan, a Division 1 team, won both regular season matchups last year by commanding 4-1 margins.

Lirio settled a third-set tie breaker to seal the Cougars’ victory this time.

“That was a pretty big match,” Healey said. “That was really exciting for us because we hadn’t beat them in the past.”

12 straight wins came after it, including tournament wins over No. 4 Hingham (5-0 win), No. 9 Milton (3-2 win) No. 16 Bishop Stang (4-1 win) and No. 33 West Springfield (3-1 win) before the heart-breaker in the final.

Along with Maw, NDA also graduated Gabriela Marchione and Caroline Reid at the season’s end.

“I just kept saying to hold your head up high because you guys just had such a great season. It’s just an incredible group of girls,” Healey said. “On the bus ride home, I think everyone kind of moved past it and just enjoyed being together one last time.”

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