Main Line girls’ tennis teams set to net victories this fall

The Main Line high school girls’ tennis scene this fall should feature a good number of strong teams. Coming off particularly noteworthy 2015 campaigans are Conestoga (19-3 overall, undefeated Central League champions, PIAA state quarterfinalist) and Episcopal Academy (12-2 overall, undefeated InterAc champions). Other squads that enjoyed highly successful seasons in 2015 included Academy of Notre Dame, Friends’ Central, Harriton, Radnor and Shipley.
What follows are previews of the Main Line high school girls’ tennis teams:

Academy of Notre Dame
Head coach: Steven Hall, ninth year.
Last year’s record: 9-2 overall, 4-2 Inter-Ac.
Key returnees: senior Grace Leasure (was second singles last fall), sophomore McKenna Bramlage (third singles last year), junior Caroline Mackay (first doubles last fall).
Others to watch: junior Natalie Hughes (second doubles last year), junior Adrianna Bull (second doubles last year), senior McKenzie Irvine (fourth doubles last fall), junior Sarah Crinnion (fourth doubles last fall).
Lost to graduation: first singles Anne Marie Crinnion, first doubles Audrey Hart, third doubles Rachel Weber and Darby Smith.
Outlook: Hall said, “I believe we will have one of the strongest singles lineups in the Inter-Ac this year. Our doubles teams are another year sharper in both skill level and tennis IQ, and so I believe our team will come out of the gates swinging. Our biggest challenge will be figuring out which combination of players works best at third and fourth doubles.”

Agnes Irwin
Head coach: Wendy Short.
Last year’s record: 6-3 overall, 3-3 Inter-Ac.
Key returnees: junior third singles Kayla Neary, junior second singles Alexis Short.
Others to watch: eighth-grader Ruthie Mjagi.
Lost to graduation: first singles Camille Smukler (Amherst).
Short said, “I am once again looking forward to a great season. We had some challenges last year but we will continue to find ways to develop and improve. Our freshman class have some promising players who I think can have an immediate impact.”

Archbishop Carroll
Head coach: Brady Kramer, first year.
Last year’s record: 5-6.
Key returnees: junior third singles Sarah Grosso, junior second singles Keli Lubiejewski, senior second doubles Emily Frohner, junior first doubles Jenna Sala, junior second doubles Margeaux Pawlec, sophomore Isabel Angelicho, sophomore Leia Dempsey, junior Deidre Dolan.
Others to watch: sophomore first singles Tess Humes, junior first doubles Katie Detwiler, sophomore Julia Downs, sophomore Grace Ewing, freshman Cecilia Frohner.
Lost to graduation: Yvonne Lewis.
Outlook: Kramer, who is also Carroll’s athletic director, said, “This team promises to be an exciting one. We have several key returning starters as well as multiple solid additions. Our depth will be our greatest strength.”

Baldwin School
Head coach: Jeff Sacks, 11th year.
Last year’s record: 10-5 overall, 3-3 InterAc.
Key returnees: senior first singles Emma Sass, junior second singles Lauren Wang, senior first doubles Ari Hairston, senior second doubles Alexa Bartels, junior second doubles Caroline Buchner, senior third doubles Dagney Tepper, sophomore fourth doubles Akexis Shatzman.
Others to watch: junior Francesca Douglas (studied abroad last year – played first JV singles in 2014).
Lost to graduation: third singles Isabel Senior, first doubles Julia Greitzer, third doubles Davis Madeja, fourth doubles Quinn Funston.
Outlook: Sacks said, “Our [biggest] strength [is] the seven experienced players returning from last year. Our [biggest] challenge [is] to stay healthy, focused and to take one match at a time.”

Conestoga
Head coach: Fran Tomaselli, 40th year.
Last year’s record: 19-3 overall, 11-0 Central League, second place in PIAA District 1, PIAA state quarterfinalist.
Key returnees: sophomore first singles Ashley Griffith, sophomore second singles Cassidy Landau, junior third singles Maddie Wood, sophomore doubles Priya Aravindhan, junior doubles Amy Zhang, senior doubles Sarah Aboseada, junior doubles Nina Herman, junior doubles Annie Burdick.
Others to watch: freshman doubles Olivia Dodge.
Lost to graduation: first doubles Julia Herman, second doubles Nour Elkassabany, second doubles Hannah Ashton, fourth doubles Simonna Coelho.
Outlook: Tomaselli said, “We return many of our varsity players from last season, plus a new ninth grader to the mix. Also, we had a couple of players that were not healthy for much of the season last year and they seem to be fine this season. When you also factor in that the players have come back playing improved tennis since last year, I think we will once again be a very deep team as we usually are. I think we should be in the mix for the league title. Our depth is usually the key and this year should be no different. I think the biggest key will be how our new players perform and how well our returning JV players can step up to replace those that left. A successful season to me would be one in which our players play up to their capabilities and improve throughout the season.”

Episcopal Academy
Head coach: Whitaker Powell, 16th year.
Last year’s record: 12-2 overall, 7-0 Inter-Ac (champions).
Key returnees: sophomore singles Bella Calastri, senior first doubles Emily Beinkampen and Eloise Nimoityn, senior doubles Nina Stavropolous, junior doubles Sam Macrides.
Lost to graduation: Nadiyah Browning, Bella Echevarria, Kaity Tarte, Jessica Bai, Katie Kane, Haley Potter.
Outlook: Powell said, “Our strength will continue to be depth at the doubles spots, specifically 3/4 doubles. We lost a ton of experience and talent to graduation and replacing them won’t happen in one year. We have a great deal of youth and talent coming up but how successful we are this year will depend on how they compete, train and practice. The ability is there but that is only a small portion of the successful equation. I’m excited to coach this group of girls and watch them rebuild over the next few seasons.”

Friends’ Central
Head coach: Alex Margolies, second year.
Last year’s record: 12-7.
Key returnees: Senior first singles Zoe Ginsburg, sophomore second singles Skye Victor, sophomore first Julia Nierenberg, junior first doubles Claire Coss, senior second doubles Sophie Berger, senior second doubles Laura Barr.
Lost to graduation: Madeleine Coss.
Outlook: “We have many returning players and great leadership,” said Margolies.

Harriton
Head coach: David Broida, second year.
Last year’s record: 12-2.
Key returnees: sophomore singles Sophia Sassoli, Connie Richards and Nina Hoog.
Others to watch: doubles Sofia Kandoussi (junior), Shaina Ginsburg (freshman), Lauren Binnion (sophomore), Sonia Groeneveld (senior).
Lost to graduation: Nell Jones, Kontra twins (Sophia and Gabrielle).
Outlook: Broida said, “Excellent. Singles is our strength, and now adding freshman Shaina Ginsburg at doubles makes [our] outlook excellent.”

Haverford High
Head coach: Charlie Withers, third year.
Last year’s record: 6-8.
Key returnees: senior first singles Nellie O’Leary, senior second singles Jillian Bernstein, senior third singles Autumn Francis, senior third singles Sloan Longo, senior second doubles Caroline Roberts.
Others to watch: sophomore first doubles Chloe Aris and Lia Robben.
Outlook: Withers said, “Our team’s biggest strength is our determined mindset and commitment to improve every day. We will continue working on our transition game from the baseline to the net.”

Lower Merion
Head coach: David O’Connell, fifth year.
Last year’s record: 12-6 overall, 8-3 Central League (fourth place).
Key returnees: senior first singles Simone Burde, senior second singles Neve Brennan, senior third singles Cristina Bermudez, senior doubles Sarah Lipson, senior first doubles Haley Kofsky, second doubles Holly Yu, senior doubles Sarah Beller-Grossman, senior doubles Lexi Ginsberg, junior doubles/singles Kloe Rosenberg, junior singles/second doubles Chloe Spergel.
Others to watch: junior Barbara Peck, junior Tiffany Nieh, sophomore Jenna Mancuso, sophomore Aasha Gupta, sophomore Anabel Schain.
Lost to graduation: Allie Rauch, Dena Behar.
Outlook: Lower Merion will have a senior-dominated lineup with four players having four years of varsity experience. O’Connell said, “The strength of the team is our three singles players who all return and are looking forward to strong seasons. Our biggest challenge will be to be more consistent with the four doubles teams in league play. Doubles wins will be the key to [us] moving up in league and district play.”

Merion Mercy Academy
Head coaches: Katie Smith (third year), Megan Smith (first year).
Key returnees: senior Lada Dzidic, senior Ali Harvey, sophomore Nina Dzidic.
Others to watch: senior Brittany Ott, junior Sumin Walker, sophomore Madison Urbano, senior Kristen Matz, senior Marlowe Galbraith, senior Alaina Solkolski.
Lost to graduation: first doubles Jenny Dooner, third singles Kristen Kelley, first doubles Isabel Rosini.
Outlook: Coach Katie Smith said, “We have many returning, experienced players this year (including six seniors), and I am confident that they will continue to strive both on and off the courts. Coach Megan and I are also excited to watch the new team members shine this season.”

Radnor
Head coach: Patrick Kurz, second year.
Last year’s record: 15-3 overall, 9-2 Central League.
Key returnees: senior first singles Grace Hederick, senior second singles Jessica Lin, senior first doubles Quinn Flannery, senior second doubles Grace Moore, senior second doubles Sasha Smolyansky.
Others to watch: freshman singles Kanon Ciarrochi, freshman doubles Lucy Hederick, freshman doubles Bridget Dougherty, freshman doubles Grace Frigerio.
Lost to graduation: third singles Alice Lehr, doubles players Kara O’Malley, Norah Xiong, Meg Reid and Rosemary Barnhart.
Outlook: Kurz said, “A strong freshman class, along with a veteran senior class, should make us competitive with everyone we play.”

Shipley
Head coach: Oliver Jones, first year
Last year’s record: 12-6 overall, 8-1 Friends’ Schools League
Key returnees: senior doubles and co-captain Kate Aschkenasy, senior doubles and co-captain Brook Robinson, sophomore singles Isabella Scardapane.
Others to watch: freshmen Jazzy Stone and Lilia Becker.
Lost to graduation: singles Britt Lovett and McKinley Lovett, doubles Amanda Henry.
Outlook: Jones said, “Last year we had two wonderful captains in the Lovett sisters. Not only were they great players, spearheading our push for Friends League regular-season title, but they also showed what it means to be leaders on a team. Their leadership on this team will be sorely missed. While we have lost some experience, we have gained some youthful enthusiasm and energy in our freshman players. We have some key returnees (above) who I know will step forward and pick up the mantel the Lovetts left behind. Kate and Brook are our captains this year and have already shown tremendous qualities that will hopefully pass down to our younger players. This promises to be an exciting year for Shipley tennis as we cultivate young talent and look to a bright future.”

• Note: Barrack Hebrew Academy, Sacred Heart and Villa Maria Academy did not provide us with preview information.