Girls Tennis GBL Co-Champs, Qualifies for States

Over 30 Years Since Girls Tennis at Top of GBL

– Allison Goldsberry

Head Coach Ellie Brady-O’Leary and the girls tennis team have had quite the season.

The Mustangs, 5-1 in the Greater Boston League, are on the top of the league for the first time since 1978 and are GBL Co-Champions with Cambridge.

At the beginning of the season, Coach Brady-O’Leary said she was looking forward to the season and was excited to have six of seven strong varsity players returning to the team.

“This is a big year, we have three strong seniors who we will be losing at the end of the season, so if there was ever a year to try and go for the GBL title, this is it,” said Brady-O’Leary before the season opened April 19.

Coach was right, as her seniors did not disappoint and get to graduate knowing they accomplished something that no other girls tennis team has done in over thirty years.

Medford, currently 11-2 overall with one match to go against Boston Latin Academy on Thursday afternoon, also qualified for the state tournament.

The last time the Mustangs played Boston Academy in April they lost a close match. Despite the loss Coach Brady-O’Leary was proud of how her team played.

“I will have to say that the loss to BLA felt like a win to us because of the way the girls played. We went into the match not imagining that we could play so well. The BLA coach was also a little surprised at how well we played. He commented that his team wasn’t expecting this,” said Brady-O’Leary.

Medford will be looking to avenge that loss and notch another victory before preparing for state tournament action. The Mustangs host Boston Latin Academy at Duggar Park at 4:00PM Thursday.

The varsity team includes senior captain Olivia Hegner (1st Singles), senior captain Kate Froysa (1st Doubles), senior captain Dee Cedrone (2nd Doubles), junior Emily Nixon (2nd Singles), sophomore Katie Bowler (3rd Singles), junior Stephanie Nguyen, sophomore Michelle Nguyen, and freshman Bailey Lee.