Girls Tennis Fights Their Way Into Quaterfinals – Hingham Anchor

June 6, 2024 – Story and photos by Joshua Ross

Despite a new coach, a new court, a new division, and almost a whole new team this year, the results have been the same for Hingham’s girl tennis team – a spot in the quarterfinals.

The Harborwomen earned their place in the Elite Eight on Tuesday with a gritty 3-2 win over 13th seed North Attleboro.  Junior captain Sanya Khadivi played one of her best matches of the season.  She hit the ball extremely well and made it look effortless in her 6-2, 6-2 win. First doubles saw a last minute change due to an illness with senior captain Simran Vaishnava filling in to join sophomore Sammy Price.  They also had an impressive win, 6-3, 6-3.  Second doubles of juniors Maddie Cusack and Mia Sacco cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win.

First year head coach Steve Berger was very pleased with how his team played.  Before every game, he gives a sports quote to motivate his team.  Tuesday’s quote is adorned across the court at the French Open that reads “Victory belongs to the most tenacious.”

“I said you have been that all year,” explains Berger. “We got crunched by NDA in a scrimmage to start the season and they have just gotten tougher and tougher as the year went on. I think today was just a great case where we showed our tenacity because we had first singles player who was under the weather and gave it all she could and Simran stepped in and played her biggest match of the year on court one in the round of 16 and came through in doubles with flying colors.”

Khadivi, who is finally playing at full strength after an injury during the first part of the season, will be key piece to the Harborwomen’s success going through the tournament.

“She had a wrist injury that prevented her from doing certain things on the court,” says Berger. “But she turned adversity into benefit.  Because of that, she developed a slice and a drop shot on her backhand, which she has used to her advantage.  Now that she’s fully healed she’s got all the strokes on her backhand, she’s got a great serve, and she’s developed an impressive court composure.”

Vaishnava is impressed the team didn’t take a step back with all the changes this year, and in fact, has a chance to go further than they did during last year’s great playoff run.

“It’s pretty exciting,” says Vaishnava. “Last year we made it pretty far against some tough teams and to know that we can do it again this year just as strong is pretty incredible. And having players that were injured or sick made it an awesome victory today.  Overall the season was really good.  It was interesting having all three new coaches.  There was a lot of communication and collaboration that’s been really helpful.  We have all done a good job and I think because of that we can play tennis more confidently knowing everyone is happy and being kept in the loop of the situation.”

Next up is a very familiar opponent, Duxbury.  The two teams have split their regular season match-ups and everyone is looking forward to the chance to make it to the Final Four.

“We really need to just stay focused,” adds Vaishnava.  “Play every point like it’s the last and keep fighting through it.”

The Elite Eight match will be Friday at 4pm at Hingham High School.