H.S. tennis: Unbeaten Stonington clinches title for ECC Medium crown

Stonington - Stonington High School, riding a pair of dominating performances from its top two singles players - Annika Burgess and Chloe Slater - clinched at least a share of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division title on Monday with a 7-0 girls' tennis win over Ledyard.

The Bears (10-0, 6-0) moved up from the Small Division this season. Burgess and Slater were both 6-0, 6-0 winners for Stonington, which also picked up a three-set win from its No. 3 doubles team of Gina Feliciano and Meg Rolfe.

In other matches:

• Hira Afzaal and Lillian James won a pair of three-set singles battles, but New London was edged by Windham 4-3. The Whalers (2-1) also picked up a doubles win by their No. 3 team of Sara Blette and Nabeela Arshad.

• Jacquie Csisar pulled out a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory at No. 4 singles as St. Bernard nipped Lyman Memorial 4-3 in the ECC Small Division. Susy Kusmierski and Kenzie Gagne also won singles matches for the Saints (8-2, 5-0) while Emily Patten and Alex Massad won at No. 2 doubles. Lyman (3-8, 1-3) had wins from Holly Dutko at No. 2 singles and the doubles teams of Michell Valliere-Maggie Tarbox and Anna Puleo-Jackie Zerio.

• No. 1 singles player Klejdja Qosja rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory, Griswold's only win in a 6-1 loss to Killingly in the ECC Small Division. The Wolverines are 0-9, 0-4.

• Morgan Deschamps, Ashley Ziroli and Sam Fannon won singles matches in Norwich Tech's 5-2 win over Grasso Tech. The Warriors (4-2) also earned doubles wins from the teams of Victoria-Elwell-Kayla Moran and Gabby Tudsica-Sam Willey while Kylynn Washington and Casey Mercado won singles matches for Grasso Tech.

Boys

• Lyman Memorial swept the three doubles matches, including a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win by the No. 1 team of Ben Swinehart and Parker Skaats, to defeat St. Bernard 4-3 in a showdown for first place in the ECC Small Division. The Bulldogs (8-4, 4-1) avenged a 4-3 loss to the Saints (7-3, 4-1) on April 23 to pull into a first-place tie.

Lyman's other wins came from Tim Hennessey at No. 3 singles and the other doubles teams of Chris Konow-Ian Montgomery and Ajay Gonnelli-Tony Kuang. Nicholas Zuczek, Chris Renaud and Matt Suprenant won singles matches for St. Bernard.

• Morgan White, Dan Kurpaska, Alex Brault and Stuart Ross won singles matches in straight sets in Old Lyme's 5-2 victory over East Hampton in the Shoreline Conference. The No. 2 doubles team of Fedderico Romero and Hugh Cipparone won in three sets 7-5, 6-4, 10-3 in a tiebreaker. The Wildcats are 13-1 overall and in the Shoreline, tied for first place with Portland.

• Fitch won a pair of ECC Large Division matches, beating Woodstock Academy 4-3 in the completion of a match suspended on April 25 and then beating the Centaurs 6-1 in their regularly-scheduled meeting. Nick Bonassieux and Doug Singer won both their singles matches for the Falcons (6-2, 4-1) as did the No. 1 doubles team of Ryan Halperin and Srini Srirangam.

• Singles players Sean Rahusen, Corey Lorraine and Jarrod Varney were straight-set winners in Montville's 5-2 win over Griswold in the ECC Small Division. The Indians (2-5, 2-2) also won at No. 3 doubles (Justin Santacroce and Tristan Poole) while the Wolverines (2-7, 1-3) picked up wins from Kevin Laraia at No. 3 singles and Reuben Garcia-Jake Nelson at No. 2 doubles.

• J.P. Precourt and Jiajun Ximu won at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, leading Norwich Free Academy past Ledyard, 5-2. No. 2 doubles duo of Bryon Harris and Rafid Choudhury won in three sets for the Wildcats (6-3). Jason Smith and Zach Higgins won their singles matches for the Colonels (4-6).

• Apolline Jonckheere won a tough 9-7 battle at No. 4 singles to highlight the Williams School's 7-0 victory over St. Thomas More. Adam Verhoeff, Jon Powell and Jenner Foster also won singles matches for the Blues as did the doubles teams of Rudy Harvey-Brian Bradley, Juli Brown-Victoria Ferrigno and Laura Welch-Olivia Foster.