ECC Division I champion Lancers remain unbeaten in girls' tennis with victory over Stonington

Waterford — Waterford is competitive. Undefeated, even, at 13-0. Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I champs for the first time, a fact head coach Ed Kolnaski shared with his players during a recent practice, leaving them anticipating their championship banner to arrive so they can pose for photos. And yet within the rhythms of the team during Friday's 5-2 victory over Stonington — the second time the Lancers have beaten the defending Class M state champion Bears this season — there is a certain joyfulness. The No. 1 singles player, Marina Matsas, is a diminutive freshman who serves right-handed but hits groundstrokes lefty. She's undefeated, the likely No. 1 seed in the upcoming ECC tournament, following four straight titles by her predecessor in the No. 1 spot at Waterford in Sarah Hage, and yet Matsas doesn't carry herself as "Sarah Jr.," as Stonington coach George Crouse refers to her. The No. 2 singles player, Maria Hathaway, meanwhile, was away from the team for three weeks this season while battling thyroid cancer. She had a five-hour surgery in which the cancer was removed. She'll undergo radiation this summer. She's confident in her recovery, happy to be back with her teammates, who texted her quite often while she was away. "I love the team," said Hathaway, a junior. "It's like no other team. It's a great team, great support. We're all so close. We all practice together. Some people go to Lyme Shores, too, so we're with each other all the time. It has been very special (this season). "All three of the captains, Madi (Gamble), Hazel (Siu) and Sophia (Sit), they're great leaders. After we lost a lot of our seniors last year, I didn't think we'd be (13-0) right now. I think it's really wonderful that we've come this far." On Friday, Matsas won at No. 1 singles and Lila Tinnerello claimed a victory at No. 4 singles, edging Bethany Schoenecker in a tiebreaker to take the second set. The Lancers, who completed play in ECC Division I at 6-0, got a doubles sweep from the teams of Sit and Siu, Angeles Pina-Rodriguez and Tori Campisi and Gamble and Clare Ward. Stonington (9-3, 2-3) got wins from Misha Lewandowski at No. 2 singles, beating Hathaway in straight sets, and Marina Lewandowski at No. 3 singles. Waterford has 44 team members. Kolnaski and his staff don't cut anyone, fielding a roster with 50 players a year ago. They broke their pregame huddle Friday with Kolnaski at the center of the enthusiastic crowd. Kolnaski coaches three sports in the ECC, including serving as the Fitch field hockey assistant under his wife Diane and as the Stonington girls' basketball assistant under his sister Paulla Solar. This is the sport in which he's the head coach. True to his personality, he's still the good cop during tennis season; he brings the team for ice cream at Mel's Downtown Creamery in Westerly whenever the Lancers visit Stonington. But doesn't he yell sometimes? "Yes. I'm about to yell at them right now," Kolnaski said, watching one of his doubles teams Friday. "... Honestly, they all work hard. For having that many kids, they all work together. They cheer each other on. They're excited. They don't talk about being undefeated. "They didn't realize East Lyme beat Stonington (on May 12, which gave Waterford the Division I title). So that next day we got them all in the middle in the middle of practice and said, 'OK, we've got some news. It's good news.' They said, 'What can it be? Are we getting pizza?' No. It's that we won. They were all super excited." And they're led by a confident freshman at the top of the singles ladder. Matsas hits with Hage's mother, Amale, a former ranked player in Lebanon and Hage's coach when she was in high school. "I think definitely from the beginning of the season I've gotten more confident in my game since I'm undefeated and we won our division," said Matsas, whose brother Christos is the No. 1 player for the Waterford boys' team. Matsas said she was never nervous about replacing Hage, despite Hage's success. "We play different styles," Matsas said. "Since we play a little different, I think we can both carve our own way. ... It's obviously amazing (this season). I love this team so much. We always have fun. We do (tennis-related) games a lot and even then you can see our competitive side get out." v.fulkerson@theday.com