Lenox falls to Monument in Western Mass. tennis finals

LEE – Spartan Head Coach Jeff Caligari knew this day would eventually come. With three of the top singles players in the county, along with an undefeated first doubles team this season, it was just a matter of time for this group to claim a title.

Lenox, however, stood in their way.

“We’ve always had good teams and always had a good record, but Lenox has always set the standard,” Caligari said. “This year, we had a good team, and I am not surprised that we played Lenox in the finals – it is a testament to Berkshire County tennis and how good a team Lenox is.”

Lenox proved worthy of the task last Thursday in Lee, with the Western Mass. title on the line, as senior Kelly Babich withstood Monument’s number one singles player, Samantha White.

Babich and White traded long, solid, ground strokes in one of the best girls’ tennis matches of the season in Western Mass.

“It was a good match to watch because they both hit the ball so well, it’s good solid tennis – I couldn’t be any more proud of Kelly – she had a great year, and she ended on a good note,” said Lenox Head Coach Michelle Alexico.

Babich went on to beat White in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 – for Lenox’s only win of the day against the Spartans.

In the number two singles match, Monument’s Courtney Freadman outlasted Rachel Cogswell 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets to earn the clinching victory match over the Millionaires.

Cogswell, who served much better this match and was able to consistently return Freadman’s shots with long rallies, couldn’t, however, manage to earn enough winners over the Spartan senior.

“Courtney is a tough player, and she is a good player – she is very consistent and she moves well, and she is patient – it is like they are playing the same person but it seems that Courtney just hits one more ball,” Alexico said.

Freadman utilized her deep lob returns to push Cogswell deep along the baseline, giving her little chance to get on top of the ball to hit her forehand winners – one of her known strengths.

Shea Caligari, one of the county’s best number three players, easily defeated freshman Liz Jarck 6-1, 6-2. Caligari utilized her slice to keep the young Jarck off-balance.

Monument’s first first doubles team continued the winning ways with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Lenox’s Alex Adams and Cami Smachetti. Both Cara Freadman and Jen Evans play with such athleticism up on the net that no team has been able to slow them down all year.

“They are really underrated,” said Coach Caligari afterwards.

In the second doubles, Lenox’s Kathy Prescott and Alex Trousilek almost came back to beat Monument’s Emily Martin and Molly Amstead, with Prescott valiantly fighting through a foot injury, despite dropping the match 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Prescott could have easily retired during the match with the injury, especially due to the fact the overall match had already been decided with the Freadman win. Yet, she showed great perseverance in fighting all the way through and forcing a deciding seventh game in the third set.

“We didn’t lose today,” Alexico said. “We just got beat – everyone played well and any match could have gone either way.”

Monument Mountain traveled to Shrewsbury for the State Semi-Finals on Monday, and easily defeated Sutton 4-1, to move onto the Division 3 State Final this Friday.

Posted by Tim Davis on June 13, 2013. Filed under High School Sports,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry