Windham varsity girls’ tennis crushes Marshwood

By Matt Pascarella

In its season home opening matches, Windham High’s varsity girls’ tennis team took the court against Marshwood on Friday, April 26 and in a total team effort, WHS earned its first win of 2024 by defeating the Hawks, 4-1.

Windham senior Madeline Dumont returns a serve during
a girls' prep tennis match against Marshwood at Windham
High School on Friday, April 26.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“Windham was moving their opponents around and drop shotting went really well,” said Windham varsity girls’ assistant coach Natalie Egbert. “They need to work more on their serves and just consistency, rallying. Overall, it was a good first match.”

In singles matches, Windham senior Alyssa Conley won her first set 6-4, lost the second, 4-6 and then won the tiebreaker 12-10. Windham senior Taylor Juhase lost the first set 5-7, won the second set, 6-4, but lost the tiebreaker, 6-10.

Windham sophomore Jasmine Lucas defeated her Marshwood opponent, 6-4 and 6-2. In doubles matches, Windham senior Alejandra Hidell and junior Afomyia Timerga won, 6-2 and 6-1. Windham seniors Madeline Dumont and Samantha Bell forced a tiebreaker after winning, 6-2, and losing 4-6; they won their hard-fought final match, 11-9.

“Sam [Bell] is a really great partner and I think we work really well together,” said Dumont. “Marshwood were definitely reasonable opponents and I’m really happy with how we pulled through at the end. We just looked at each other and said, ‘we got to do this; we know it’s late, we know we’re tired ... we locked in and got it done.’ We had a lot of really good alley shots as well as really good serving. Considering it’s the first match of the season, I think it went pretty well, but just communicating on the court needs work.”

Windham had been able to get roughly three weeks of practice in and their abilities on the court showed it. Players in all matches kept their focus on the ball and moved their feet fast and frequently. Everyone put in a strong effort.

According to Juhase, Marshwood did a good job of making her run for the ball. Juhase was able to hit it pretty far back and her placement was ok, but not the best. She threw her shoulder out in the first set; and in the second game and it messed up her serves; she got in her head a little and had to switch to doing softy serves instead of hard ones. She was pleased with how she played and said the games were really close.

"It was really good,” said Lucas. “Once I kind of got in a rhythm, I did well. I won the first four games of the first set and lost the next four. After that I got in a good rhythm and won the next second. Consistency still needs work, and I could improve my serve a bit.” <

Windham girls’ tennis team shuts out Sanford

Windham senior Lauren DeLuca focuses on returning the ball
during a girls' prep tennis match against Sanford at Windham
High School on Monday, May 9.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

By Matt Pascarella

In their second shutout victory of the season, the Windham High girls’ tennis team defeated Sanford 5-0 and earned their fifth win of the season to bring their record to a sparkling 5-1 overall.

Earlier this month, Windham shut out Westbrook 5-0 as well.

During this match against Sanford at home on Monday, May 9, Windham had to adjust its playing style mid-match in order to defeat the Spartans.

The Lady Eagles persevered, then adjusted when they were down, as they played a different style of play, to come back and secure the win.

“It was rough at first, off to a slow start, but after I got into it, it went well,” said Windham sophomore Alyssa Conley. “I wasn’t in a very good spot at the beginning. [Later on] I got more aggressive with my shots and took more chances.”

Conley won her matches 6-3 and 6-0 and said her placement was good. She got her opponent to move around the court, which made it more difficult for Sanford. She hopes Windham has a good rest of the season.

Windham’s doubles team of junior Sarah Bell and sophomore Madeline Dumont won their matches, 6-2 and 6-0.

“Things went well,” said Windham girls’ tennis coach Katy Dresnok. “[Windham] started off a little shaky, took a little time to warm up. They are smart players, they take instruction really well, they think about their placement and are enthusiastic along with some natural athletic abilities.”

Windham singles junior Grace Paiement won her matches, 6-2 and 6-2.

Windham’s doubles team of sophomore Samantha Bell and freshman Katelyn Cotter beat their opponents, 7-6 and 6-1.

Windham senior Lauren DeLuca said she thought the match went very well. She was having a bit of a hard time in the beginning, but said it was a mental game. DeLuca had to pull it together and dig deep down to believe she was going to win and in the end, she got by with 6-2 and 6-4 victories.

“I had to take some deep breaths and couldn’t overthink it, because overthinking it is going to make it worse,” DeLuca said.

She took simple shots, placement, with no need to overdo it or try to go overboard. She said her placement and cross-court shots helped her get the win.<