Girls tennis players gain valuable experience during NVL singles, doubles tourneys

BY KEN MORSE
CITIZEN’S NEWS
The Naugatuck girls had two players take part in the NVL singles tournament while a pair of Woodland double teams reached the semifinal round of their championship.
“I don’t know, that may be the first time we have ever had four All-NVL players in a season,” said Woodland coach Jessica DeGennaro. “Seniors Brooke Reilly and Meghan Ruhl, along with juniors Audrey Fencil and Rylie Montini, reached the doubles semifinals and made the All-NVL team. That’s quite an accomplishment for Woodland tennis.”
Shravani Daptardar and Mia Grella represented the Greyhounds in singles play with Bella Mastropietro and Yasmeen Galal being the two Hawks singles players taking on the best of the NVL.
Mastropietro and Galal went 1-1 in the tournament. Daptardar won two matches and then faced teammate Grella in the quarterfinal round. Grella advanced to the semifinals before getting upended, 6-3, 6-4, by Michaela Bell of Holy Cross.
The singles champion was Wolcott’s Reese Yost, who got past Bell in the championship match, 6-4, 6-3, on May 24 to remain unbeaten for the second year in a row.
The Naugatuck doubles team of Alena Rotatori and Ava DeFilippo was upended in the second round of play, as was the tandem of Tiffany Nguyen and Camryn Smith.
Woodland, which reached the semifinals of the team tournament, had two doubles teams that reached the semifinals of that tournament.
“As a team and earning the No. 4 seed in the NVL tournament exceeded our expectations, having such a young team,” said DeGennaro. “We played Holy Cross very well in the semifinals and I think it helped to build a little bit of a foundation that we can continue to grow on next season.”
Both Woodland doubles teams went 3-0 on their way to the semifinal round. Fencil and Reilly lost a tough match, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, to the Watertown duo of Meghan Hughes and Maggie Dassatti.
In the other semifinal tilt, Ruhl and Montini fell short, 6-2, 6-4, against the Holy Cross pair of Jayme Erdtmann and Rachel Honegger. In the championship match, Hughes and Dassatti defeated the defending champions Erdtmann and Honegger, 7-5, 6-4, on May 24.
“I think this season proved to be a real confidence booster for a lot of these girls,” added DeGennaro. “Holy Cross went on to win the NVL championship and we played them well the two times we faced them this season. We graduate just two players, Brooke Reilly and Meghan Ruhl, so we have a lot of players coming back that gained some experience, especially in the tournament. That should be a motivating factor to want to get back here next season.”