The MIAA state tournament tennis brackets are here — and each of our six local programs have officially etched their names into the mix.
Here’s a breakdown by gender and division of where those playoff-bound teams from Gloucester, Manchester Essex and Rockport landed in their respective draws and what to expect moving forward.
GIRLS
Division 3
Top two seeds: Martha’s Vineyard Regional (16-0) & Dover-Sherborn (15-1)
Local team in mix: Gloucester (No. 25 at 9-8)
The Fishermen enjoyed their first regular season over .500 in nearly a decade and have been rewarded with a preliminary round home match against No. 40 Saint Mary’s (Westfield) this Wednesday at 11 a.m. The earlier start is due to a conflict involving the opponent, which has a school function that night that the athletes need to get back in time for.
Gloucester has gotten strong seasons from Meghan Buckley, Ava Videl, Iylan Mione, Esme Sarrouf and Keira O’Brien, among others. Should the Fishermen pull off the home win, they’d advance to the Round of 32 to take on No. 8 Wilmington (also 9-8) on the road.
Division 4
Top two seeds: Hamilton-Wenham (13-2) & Manchester Essex (15-2)
Other local team in mix: Rockport (No. 9 at 3-12)
The top two seeds in this draw happen to be the same two local Cape Ann League programs who met in last year’s state championship match, with Hamilton-Wenham coming out on top in that one for their fourth straight title. Manchester Essex, which split its two-match season series with the Generals, would love nothing more than to see their rivals in the finals once again; the Hornets’ journey begins on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Endicott College against the winner of No. 31 Greenfield and No. 34 David Prouty.
Should Manchester hold serve to open things up, it’d play the winner of No. 15 Millis and No. 18 Wareham in the Sweet 16. The road to the Final Four runs through Manchester, more specifically their playoff home courts at Endicott.
Manchester has been led by some stellar singles play from Sarah Cort, Grace Scarbrough and Ellen Gilson, as well as consistent doubles showings from Maeve McArdle/Lila Braier and Annie Kent/Sophia Eagan. Stella Langile has also stepped up at both singles and doubles throughout the year.
Rockport, meanwhile, was rewarded for their strength of schedule to snare a top 10 seed. The Vikings played well against a challenging CAL slate and were much more competitive overall than their final record would suggest.
Rockport — which was led this year by Mariana DeBenedictis, Summer Warren, Gabby Lucido and doubles players Tessa Twombly, Dakota Graham, Hannah Aspesi and Rumi Corum — will open the tournament with a Round of 32 bout at home against No. 24 West Bridgewater (2-13) on Thursday at 3 p.m.
BOYS
Division 3
Top two seeds: Weston (10-3) & Wayland (6-7)
Local team in mix: Gloucester (No. 16 at 12-5)
Bouncing between the No. 10 and No. 13 seed for most of the spring, the Fishermen wound up falling to No. 16 and now face a daunting road ahead of them. They still locked up a home match to open things up in the Round of 32, where they’ll take on No. 17 Cape Cod Academy (14-2) on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Should it defend home court, Gloucester would then likely head to top-seeded Weston with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
Gloucester has gotten tremendous contributions across the board this season from sophomore first singles standout Shane Widtfeldt and sophomore second singles star Trey Bushfield. Julian Nixon has been steady at No. 3 singles, too, while James Towne, Ethan Parisi, Sam Young, Henry Harrison and Drew Ciolino have all contributed in doubles action.
Division 4
Top two seeds: Hamilton-Wenham (15-1) & Mystic Valley Charter (10-4)
Local teams in mix: Manchester Essex (No. 5 at 7-8) and Rockport (No. 11 at 5-12)
The two-time defending Division 4 state champs from Manchester Essex had a down year by their standards, at least in terms of their final record, but still came up with some impressive wins and overall showings. They were rewarded with a top five seed behind strong singles play from Alex Montaresi at the top of the lineup. Ernest Taylor, Ben Tobin, Luke Pilaud, Andrew Cahill, Peter Langendorf, and others have contributed to the team’s success.
The Hornets will open play on Tuesday at home (Endicott College) against No. 28 West Bridgewater at 4 p.m. Assuming they take care of business, they’d then await the winner of No. 12 Sturgis Charter West and No. 21 Frontier Regional for a Round of 16 clash.
Manchester’s CAL rival, Hamilton-Wenham, earned the top spot in the bracket; the Hornets beat the Generals, 4-1, in last year’s Elite Eight round.
As for Rockport — which rebounded from a winless campaign a season ago to record their most wins since 2023 — head coach Ted Twombly’s squad sits on the opposite side of the bracket as Manchester. The Vikings will host No. 22 Randolph (6-5) in the Round of 32 on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., right after the Rockport girls match. Should Rockport advance, it’d face the winner of No. 6 Cohasset and No. 27 Saint John Paul II in the Sweet 16.
Senior captain Timothy Patrick has led the charge for the Vikings, while talented 8th-graders Van Knowlton (1st singles) and Hunter MacDowell (3rd singles) have been impressive throughout the year. Senior twin brothers Solomon and Winston Rich have also performed well in first doubles action, with juniors Jack Trupiano and Liam Fauci regularly holding down the second doubles spots.