Mount Greylock Edges Pope Francis in Opener
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Mount Greylock’s Charlotte Sanford earned a victory at No. 3 singles Saturday afternoon to clinch a 3-2 win over Pope Francis in the Mounties’ season opener at the Williams College tennis courts.
Sanford battled to a 7-2 win in a first-set tie-breaker before taking control for a 7-6, 6-1 win long after the day’s other four matches had wrapped up.
“Charlotte was up and down in her first set,” Mount Gryelock coach John Jacobbe said. “And she found a way to pull out the tie-break.
“Charlotte, Hannah [Gilooly] and Mia [VanDeurzen] all played a lot in the winter this year. And Charlotte at third singles is going to be relied a lot on. They’re all pretty close. They’re competitive with each other. Mia is always going to face the other team’s top dog, and Hannah will see their second best player.
“We’re hoping our depth pays off, and today it did.”
Mount Greylock swept the day’s two doubles matches.
At No. 1 doubles, the tandem of Josie Dalsin and Izzy Leonard won, 6-3, 6-3.
At second doubles, Olivia Winters and Ava Simon cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 win.
The Mounties dropped a couple of hard-fought decisions at the top of the ladder, where Elizabeth Goncalves and Elita Vale won for the Cardinals by scores of 6-2, 6-3 and 6-1, 7-5, respectively.
“Mia hit the ball tremendously at times, and [Goncalves] is a year-round tennis player as well, so it’s a tough matchup to start with,” Jacobbe said. “But she was one point away in every game. It was one that could have gone either way. As she keeps getting better and better, she’ll find ways to win those matches.
“Hannah made a great run in the second set. She just has to fine tune when to go for shots and when not to and keep going one point at a time and keep it so there’s not great momentum one way or the other. She has to keep that ‘next point’ mentality, and she’s going to do some great things.”
Mount Greylock continues its season on Monday at home against Lee, and the Mounties go into the season with young team full of promise one year after advancing to the Western Massachusetts Division 3 quarter-finals.
“We have a great younger group who comes every day and tries to get better,” Jacobbe said. “But of the girls who played today, we had five sophomores, one freshman and one senior. They all competed very well today.
“Pope Francis beat us, 4-1, last year. I know both teams are different, but it feels nice to get an early win against a team that beat you last year. I feel good about the start, and we have a lot of room for improvement.”