Winning at the highest level of any sport takes talent, dedication and sometimes it takes pure guts.
That last thing is what Hamilton-Wenham’s first doubles team of senior captain Gabriella Jewitt and freshman Madeline Fennell showed off on Wednesday.
The four-time defending state champion Generals kept their drive for five alive when Jewitt and Fennell rallied to win a three-set thriller, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to send the top-seed past Bromfield, 3-2, in the state semifinals out in Shrewsbury. Hamilton-Wenham (17-2) advances to Saturday’s state final for the fifth straight season.
“It was an incredible match,” said Hamilton-Wenham coach Joe Maher. “What was amazing about today is that duo (Fennell/Jewett) almost didn’t play. I had a second lineup ready to go as I knew Madeline was fighting off sickness throughout the day and over a long bus ride. It wasn’t until after warm ups that she looked me in the eye and said ‘I’m ready.’”
Ready she was, as was her partner Jewitt. Though it was a slow start with a 4-6 loss in the opening set, the duo rallied to even the match when Fennell hit an ace to end the second.
Neither team broke serve in the first six games of the third set until the Generals pulled it off to take a 4-3 edge. Jewitt held her serve to make it 5-3 and Bromfield took a 15-40 lead in the tenth game. With Fennell serving, H-W’s duo battled through deuce and fought off three break points before taking the matchup as their teammates rushed the court to celebrate making another finals appearance.
“I was really proud of Gabriella’s leadership on the court and her ability to control the net,” said Maher. “Meanwhile Madeline played calm and composed and hit some big groundstrokes that kept Bromfield off balance.”
In early action, Hamilton-Wenham got wins from Charlotte Ireland (6-3, 6-3) at third singles and from the second doubles team of Sofie Greene and Evelyn Esdaile (6-0, 6-0) to tie the No. 5 seed Bromfield (11-7) at 2-2. In the other singles spots, Emily McIntosh (4-6, 2-6) and Krishna Guruju (5-7, 1-6) played well in defeat.
Saturday at the DuPont Courts at MIT, Hamilton-Wenham will face Cape Ann League rival Manchester Essex (19-2) for the Division 4 state title. The Generals and Hornets split their regular season matchups, with each time winning a 3-2 decision, and in all likelihood the championship match will follow a similarly competitive path. It’s the third time in five years H-W and Manchester have met in the finale, and the Generals have now won 24 straight playoff matches.
“The finals will be an amazing match against M-E as they have a strong team and always come into their matches well coached,” said Maher, who coached the H-W boys to the 2009 state title. The Generals will seek a championship of their own, playing for the boys D4 crown on Saturday as well.
“It will be nice to have the boys team playing right next to us, it should make for a great atmosphere.”
Division 3 heartbreaker
Meanwhile in the Division 3 state semi’s at Westford, Swampscott saw its dream season come to an end with a highly competitive 3-2 loss to No. 1 seed Dover-Sherborn.
The Big Blue ran the table during the regular season and came into the D3 playoffs as the No. 6 seed. Swampscott won its first three playoff matches, upsetting Lynnfield in the quarters to reach the Final Four for the first time in recent memory. Dover-Sherborn, the No. 2 seed and now 19-1, did just enough to end Swampscott’s run at 21-1, one of the best in school history.