The girls varsity tennis team lost 5-0 to the Natick Redhawks on Friday, May 16 at Waldstein Playground. With the seniors of the team absent due to senior skip day, the players of the game got a preview of their teamwork for the upcoming season.

Freshman Nina Ghael played the first singles match. After a tight rally, she lost her first set 6-0. A neck and neck second set ended with Ghael losing 1-0, ending the match and giving a win to the Redhawks.

Freshman Ellen Kirakosyan took the second singles spot and lost her first set 6-3 and her second set 6-0, resulting in another win for the Redhawks.

In the third singles match, the Redhawks took home another win after junior May Gardner lost her first set 6-1 and her second set 6-2.

The first doubles match was played by juniors Cindy Chen and Hallie Schneider, and the second match was played by sophomores Ellie Schultheis and Sangeeta Croteau. Both pairs lost their respective matches, with Chen and Schneider losing 6-1 and then 6-0, and Schultheis and Croteau losing 6-2, followed by 6-0.

Despite the losses, head coach Keith Carson praised the players’ grit and courage in stepping into new roles.

“Players that I didn’t know were as good as they were in the singles really showed up, and a lot of players playing doubles at varsity stepped up and played really well,” Carson said. “So, I feel good about our future.”

This game provided Croteau and Schultheis their first opportunity this season to play doubles together for the varsity team. As the season comes to a close, Croteau said she wants to continue to learn how Schultheis and she can play well together.

“We’re still getting comfortable with each other. I feel like today we really clicked and played well together. And I think it’s because a lot of teams don’t play together, and we’ve been playing together consistently the whole season,” Croteau said.

Schultheis commended Croteau’s performance today. According to her, Croteau was “smashing it.”

“Sangeeta did a really good job doing net, she’s been working on that a lot this year, and it really shows off, she got a lot of crazy shots that I was like, ‘oh, yeah, girl,’” Schultheis said.

The team’s seniors were absent for the game, which meant that other players got a chance to settle into the future team dynamic. The absence of so many seniors also explains why the Warriors were unable to secure a win. However, Carson was pleased with the game, which he said was representative of how the team might perform next year.

Carson said he was grateful for the work ethic and growth of the team, and as they near the end of the 2025 season, he is looking forward to next year.

“Our seniors have been really great role models and good for the team. We’ve had some freshmen come in that have really gotten better, and their confidence is coming up; a lot of the sophomores and juniors have just really worked hard,” Carson said. “Everyone comes to practice trying to get better.”