Sunday, May 22—Congratulations to the varsity tennis team on winning the 2022 Class B New England Tennis Championship—the first time in Winsor School history! The road to their historic win was paved with hard work and an undefeated season, which led the team first to the Eastern Independent League (EIL) Championship and ultimately to the New England Championship.
Winsor won the NEPSAC Championship for the first time in the history of the school, but it wasn’t easy to get there. In the quarter finals against the Cheshire School, Winsor held a 5-0 victory. First, the doubles won their matches—Sophie Diop ’22 and Jolie Zink ’25 in position 1; Suzanne Pogorelec ’24 and Julia Bae ’25 in position 2; and Karina Artemiev ’25 and Alexandra Pellegrino ’22 in position 3. But Winsor needed five points total to close out the match. Karina Artemiev ’25 and Alexandra Pellegrino ’22 rose to the occasion, finishing their singles matches in record time. In the semifinals against the Rivers School, Winsor had a lead after the doubles when Sophie Diop ’22 and Jolie Zink ’25 won in position 1 and Suzanne Pogorelec ’24 and Julia Bae ’25 won in position 2. Once again, Winsor needed five points to advance. Pogorelec in singles 2, Zink in singles 3, and Bae in singles 4 all won their matches. It was off to the final the next day at Babson College.
At Babson, Winsor faced the defending champs, the Hopkins School. In the doubles, Pogorelec and Bae finished quickly to give Winsor a one-point lead. Doubles 3 came back from a 4-1 deficit to reach 8-8 and play a nail-biting tiebreaker to clinch a second point in the final. Bae won her singles 4 match awarding Winsor a third point. And to clinch the win, Pogorelec in singles 2 and Zink in singles 3 secured Winsor’s 5-1 victory.
Coach Maria DeMarco, who received the EIL 2022 Coach of the Year award, said “I would like to thank all of the students, faculty, alumni, and parents who have supported the team throughout the season. We could not have done it without you. It has taken us a while to get here, but we are here to stay and are hoping to see all of you back on a cooler day when we play for our next NEPSAC Championship!” Games were played in record heat, with temperatures reaching over 90 degrees.