Girls Tennis Beats Barnstable 4-1 In First Match Post-April Break

The girls tennis team improved to 3-4 this season following a 4-1 victory over the Barnstable Red Hawks Monday afternoon on the road.

It was a strong day for Nantucket’s singles. First single Joan Harris won her match in straight sets 6-1, 6-0; second single Lauren Cutone won in straight sets 6-1, 6-1; and third single Hannah Gerardi won in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.

In their respective match reports after the game, Harris said she felt a little rusty coming back after spring break but believed she played fairly well. She said her forehand was solid but she struggled getting her first serve in, citing that as something she needs to work on moving forward.

Cutone said that she didn’t think she played her best but played well enough to win.

“My serves were pretty good today because I was able to add spin which also resulted in consistency,” she said in her report. “I was also able to play net a lot more which I won a few points from. I would like to work on having more consistent ground strokes though as I had a few unforced errors from them.”

Gerardi said that she improved her serve in Monday’s match, but wants to focus more on her shot placement and her drop shot.

The first doubles team featuring Chloe Marrero and Lydia Johnson suffered a rare loss to the Red Hawks pairing of Kate Condinho and Maddie Devoe. The Whalers won the first set 6-1 but lost the next two sets 3-6 and 0-6 respectively.

Johnson said after the match that she felt Marrero and herself played well in that first set, however she admitted that they may have found it to be a little too easy and allowed that sense of comfort to trickle into their second set.

“I think Chloe did an amazing job at net and on long shots,” Johnson said. “I feel next (match) I need to stay on my feet more and fully swing.”

The second doubles pairing was Julia Swietlik and Sara Dussault. They won their matchup in straight sets, although it didn’t come easy. They won 7-5 in set one and 6-4 in set two.

“Julia and I have never played together but we definitely had very good communication and we did very well going for every ball,” Dussault said. “Julia said that something she needs to work on is her volleys and something I need to work on is spin on my serves. Overall, it was a very good match. We learned a lot.”

The Whalers will be back in action Wednesday, April 26 when they host the Sturgis East Storm at 4 p.m.