FRESHMAN Paige Martino’s three-set victory during first singles clinched the girls’ tennis team’s 3-2 win over AMSA in the Division 4 round of 32 match on Monday. (Dan Tomasello File Photo)

 

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — The third seeded girls’ tennis team defeated 30th seed Advanced Math and Science Academy (AMSA) 3-2 during a four-and-a-half hour round of 32 Division 4 state tournament match at Lynnfield Middle School on Monday.

With the match tied 2-2, freshman Paige Martino clinched the victory for the Pioneers after she defeated her AMSA counterpart in three sets. After losing the first set 2-6, Martino bounced back and won the second set 7-6 and prevailed 6-4 during the third set.

“Paige was down 5-6 in the second set,” said Pioneers head coach Craig Stone. “She was one point away from losing the match before she rallied to win the second set. Paige was down 2-4 in the third set before she won four games in a row to win it 6-4. It was absolutely crazy.”

In the wake of LMS having only four tennis courts, Stone asked for a volunteer to play last.

“Paige said she would,” said Stone. “We had to get the two points to put Paige in that position, and third singles and second doubles did that for us. Paige has been in that situation a couple of times this season. One of the reasons why we play a tough non-league schedule is to give the kids the opportunity to play under pressure. Paige responded with aces. She is a competitor and her past experience playing in tournaments was a huge asset.”

Junior Geena Gioioso won her third singles match in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0.

“Geena easily won her third singles match,” said Stone. “She led wire to wire.”

Senior Sarah Breslow and sophomore Leticia Marafon secured a two-set victory during second doubles, prevailing 6-3, 6-4.

“After Sarah and Leticia won, we were up 2-0 with three matches on the court,” said Stone. “Sarah and Leticia really played well. I thought we had a good chance to win two out of three singles matches, but I knew we had to split the doubles matches. The point Sarah and Leticia picked up was huge.”

Senior captain Lauren Grava and sophomore Maddie Sieve came up short in their first doubles match in two sets, falling 4-6, 1-6.

“That brought the match to 2-1,” said Stone.

Senior captain Anna Radulski lost her second singles match in three sets. She lost the first set 5-7, prevailed 6-3 during the second set and lost the third set 4-6.

“Anna lost a tough three-set match,” said Stone. “That tied the match 2-2.”

The four-and-a-half hour long match featured a large crowd of enthusiastic spectators.

“The kids were cheering everyone on,” said Stone. “It was team tennis at its finest.”

Stone recalled that the round of 32 contest was supposed to begin at 4 p.m., but it was moved to 1:30 p.m.

“If we had started at 4 p.m., AMSA would have had to come back on Tuesday to finish the match because we wouldn’t have been able to play in the dark,” said Stone.

Stone recalled that Advanced Math and Science Academy won the Division 3 state championship last year after defeating Manchester-Essex 4-1

The Pioneers will face Rockport in the round of 16 on Wednesday, June 8, beginning at 4 p.m. at Lynnfield Middle School.