On Wednesday May 1st the Westford Academy Girls’ tennis team played against Concord-Carlisle, and Westford lost the match 5-0 to the Concord-Carlisle team. Coach Tracy Capone knew this match would be a hard fight and was proud of the girls’ play.

Capone has been coaching the girls’ tennis team for 29 years and is also the girls varsity soccer coach for WA. This year Jesse Gaboury is the JV coach since last season he stepped in for Capone when she was out.

Senior captains Rachel Rengpraphun, Caitlin Cannuscio, and Shreya Nakhawa, teamed up and played doubles against Concord-Carlisle. Sophomore Antara Parmar played doubles with Nakhawa, and though they lost, it was an intense battle throughout the sets. Parmar was the only underclassmen to play with the senior doubles in this match, but she was able to constantly keep up to speed with her opponent despite losing the set 6-4. Rengpraphun and Cannuscio showed great skill in their sets as well. Cannuscio’s height helped her to keep the ball in play multiple times throughout the match, and Rengpraphun’s hard hit helped keep her Concord-Carlisle opponent on her toes. 

Nithya Sastry, Ankita Akanksha, and Kristen Su played singles against Concord-Carlisle’s Skye Bell, Grace Versagg, and Livi Jellin. Sophomore Sastry started her first set off strong with a 2-0 lead but unfortunately could not keep up with Bell. Scoring a late point in her set gave freshman Akanksha hope to work harder, she was always on her toes ready for whatever her opponent threw at her, however despite Akanksha best efforts the set ended 6-1 Concord-Carlisle. Freshmen Su also demonstrated skill against her opponent Jellin by resting when the ball is out and quickly getting into her ready position as Jellin would serve.

All 3 girls played hard with well placed serves and sprinting saves throughout the match, overall Capone was happy with the team’s play considering Concord-Carlisle is undefeated.

There were no injuries during the match but Samira Kapasi and Shivali Shrivastava were both injured previous to the Concord-Carlisle match. Since this match was a tough lost for WA, Capone hopes to have them back in case they meet Concord-Carlisle in the playoffs.

WA has been to the north finals 3 out of the last 5 years and has won the the event twice. After previously winning the north finals WA then lost in the state semis. This year Capone took two freshmen on the varsity team, Ankita Akanksha, and Kristen Su in hopes to make it back there.

Though Concord-Carlisle was a tough loss for the girls they hope to get stronger and return to the north finals. Capone mentioned how last year they lost a lot of big players so this season has been more rebuilding, especially with the new JV coach, Gaboury.

“We’re still rebuilding, but with the two freshmen in, I think the team will be strong in the next couple years,” Capone said.