Sports Roundup: Girls Tennis Beats Martha’s Vineyard For First Time In Program History

It was a very busy weekend for Whaler sports with every team in action. The girls tennis team earned an historic win against their island rival, the boys and girls lacrosse teams earned blowout wins, the sailing team was home for a regatta, and the baseball, boys tennis, and softball teams all fell short in their weekend matchups.

Girls Tennis Takes Down Martha’s Vineyard

The girls varsity tennis team made history over the weekend following a 4-1 victory over Martha’s Vineyard – improving to 4-2 this season after securing the first win over their island rival in program history in a convincing manner.

“We are very proud of the team including the supporting nine girls who didn’t play but many of which could have stepped up to doubles and I believe prevailed,” head coach Luke Thornewill said.

Top singles player Joan Harris won her match 6-0, 6-4 and said after the match while she started out strong, she slowly began to lose momentum as the second set went on.

“I was able to recover though by playing at the net more and tiring my opponent out,” she said. “I need to work on my second serve.”

Thornewill said Harris continues to be a consistent and mentally strong player.

“To win a point against Joan the opponent must hit many, many balls as Joan, while not hitting the ball that hard, she keeps the balls low with slices or very deep with top spin,” Thornewill said. “She makes very few unforced errors. Once again, she beat the odds.”

Freshman Lily Chibnik stepped into the second doubles spot and continued her strong start to the season beating her opponent in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.

“Lily is quickly establishing herself as a freshman with extraordinary skills and play tactics,” Thornewill said. “Lily doesn’t hesitate to crush the ball with her back hand or forehand should it be in her wheelhouse and (Saturday) she kept her opponent off balance and on her heels throughout the match with straight set wins. She does need to work though on her net play and serve confidence.”

Chloe Marrero and Hannah Gerardi have become a dominant pairing as the Whaler’s top doubles team and won once again on Saturday. They beat their opponents in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.

“Hannah and Chloe played some high-level doubles,” assistant head coach Mark Gerardi said. “Chloe was strong with her backcourt play and serves. Hannah with her net play and returns. Many points were long, as they looked for their opportunity to come to the net. Their communication and different styles kept MV off balance.”

Vicky Todorova and Andrea Bunlerssak made up the Whaler’s second doubles pairing and won their match in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

“First time playing together,” Gerardi said. “They were down 1-4 in the first set, they regrouped and won 6-4. Started hitting balls deeper and put the pressure on them at the net. Andrea was strong with net play and lobs. Vicky’s serves got more consistent as the match went on, and also was aggressive at the net.”

“I feel we have three solid doubles teams, and our depth and experience will help as season progresses,” Gerardi added.

Nantucket will attempt to improve their record to 5-2 when they host Rising Tide on Friday, May 3 at 4 p.m. The Whalers beat Rising Tide on the road earlier this season 4-1.

Boys Lacrosse Blows Out Bishop Stang

The Nantucket boys lacrosse team earned another convincing victory over the weekend – beating Bishop Stang 14-1 on Saturday.

Nantucket’s balanced offensive attack was on full display yet again with five different Whalers registering at least one goal. Sophomore Arann Hanlon led the team with five goals, senior captain Cole Chambers scored three goals and registered his 200^th career varsity point, and Michael Culkins, Jack Halik, and Nolen Mosscrop each scored two goals.

Senior attacker Colby O’Keefe was held without a goal and is generally one of the team’s top scorers, but he found other ways to be productive and impact the game - registering a game-high eight assists.

Nantucket has just one loss through their first six games of the year – a 13-6 defeat on the road to Falmouth. In the other five games, they have outscored their opponents 69-15. In the MIAA’s first Div. 4 power rankings of the spring season that were released on Friday, the Whalers came in as the #4 seed in Div. 4 behind Norwell, Abington, and Weston.

Nantucket will attempt to improve their record to 6-1 on Wednesday, May 1 when they host Archbishop Williams at 3:45 p.m.

Girls Lacrosse Remains Undefeated, Ranked #2 In Div. 4

The girls lacrosse team won another game in blowout fashion on Saturday – beating Dennis-Yarmouth 17-3 on the road. The Whalers are 8-0 this season and went into the weekend as the #2 seed in the MIAA’s first Div. 4 power rankings released on Friday. The only team they find themselves behind at the moment is Weston.

Senior Emerson Pekarcik led the team with six goals. She also had two assists. Senior Bailey Lower had five goals and added seven assists. Grace Hanlon scored two goals. Claire Genthner, Maddie Lombardi, Mayson Lower, Dylan Damian, and Suz Peraner each had one goal. Cydney Mosscrop had three assists.

Nantucket will try to improve their record to 9-0 on Tuesday, April 30 when they host Bridgewater-Raynham at 4 p.m.

Photos: Sailing Hosts Weekend Regatta

The Nantucket sailing team competed in a weekend regatta against Buckingham Browne & Nichols Private School and Fairfield Ludlowe High School, and assistant head coach Jim Meehan was on hand taking photos throughout. He shared some with the Current – which we have included below.

Baseball Loses Three Games Over Weekend

The Nantucket baseball team lost three games over the weekend. The first was an 11-0 defeat on the road to the Monomoy Sharks. The Whalers were only able to register four hits on the day. Nantucket trailed 6-0 through three innings and were still within striking distance until Monomoy scored five runs in the fourth inning to make it 11-0.

The other two games took place on Saturday in a road doubleheader against Carver. The Whalers lost the first game 4-1 despite jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to an RBI single from senior captain Shea Dwyer, who knocked in freshman catcher Eli MacIver, who had reached base earlier in the inning on a single of his own.

But after the first inning, the Whalers weren’t able to get much offense going. They finished with just six hits. MacIver went 2 for 4 in the game and sophomore Brock Beamish went 2 for 2.

Dwyer pitched six strong innings and kept Carver off the scoreboard until the sixth inning when they scored four runs to make it 4-1 in the bottom half of the inning. The Whalers, who had been leading for nearly the entire game, suddenly needed to score three runs in the top half of the seventh in order to extend the game but were unable to do so.

Dwyer was methodical – needing just 39 pitches to get through the first five innings. When he ran into some trouble in the sixth inning, he needed 27 pitches to get out of it. The four-run inning for Carver began with an error in the infield followed by two walks, a double, and a single. Overall, Dwyer continues to provide his team with quality outings – the bats just haven’t been able to do their part so far this season for Nantucket.

In game two of the doubleheader, the bats were able to generate some more offense, but it still wasn’t enough. Again, the offense came early with Nantucket scoring two first inning runs. Dwyer and sophomore Ronald Del Rosario Gomez each reached base on an error – then Felix Abreu hit a single to drive them both in.

Nantucket took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the first with Gomez on the mound. Gomez threw 80 pitches in five innings – 33 of which came in the first. Carver scored a pair of runs in the first inning and then one run in the third.

Nantucket ended up plating a third run in the top of the sixth to make it 3-3 but after Gomez came out of the game in the sixth, Carver proceeded to score three more runs in that inning to put Nantucket in a 6-3 hole they couldn't climb out of.

Nantucket remains winless but continues to play in a lot of close games. The Whalers will try to win that elusive first game on Wednesday, May 1 when they host Rising Tide at 3:45 p.m.

Boys Tennis Loses Road Matchup To Martha’s Vineyard

The Nantucket boys tennis team lost a road matchup to Martha’s Vineyard 4-0 on Saturday. The third singles match involving senior Sam Iller was not able to be completed due to time and will be completed when the Whalers host Martha’s Vineyard on May 11.

Nantucket is still 4-2 this season and went into the weekend as the #6 ranked team in the MIAA’s first Div. 4 boys tennis rankings on Friday. They’ll look to get back on track Monday, April 29 on the road against Sturgis West at 4 p.m.

Softball Loses 20-8

The Nantucket softball team lost to Atlantis Charter School 20-8 on Saturday – dropping their record to 2-4 this season. Nantucket allowed seven first inning runs and found themselves trailing 16-3 after four innings before scoring five runs in the fifth.

Senior Madison Silva hit a home run in the third inning. Lola Caron went 3 for 3 with a triple and scored three runs.

Nantucket will look to get back into the win column on Wednesday, May 1 at 3:45 p.m. when they travel to Rising Tide to face the Herons.

SCHEDULE AHEAD:

Monday, April 29:

Boys tennis will travel to Sturgis West to face the Navigators at 3:45 p.m.

Tuesday, April 30:

Girls lacrosse will host Bridgewater-Raynham at 4 p.m.

Outdoor track will be on the road facing Dennis-Yarmouth at 3:30 p.m.

For more coverage of all the Nantucket spring sports teams, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or X (Twitter). You can follow photographer Chris Tran by clicking here. You can view the MIAA power rankings here.