By Stephanie Caron – Staff Reporter

Jonathan Law’s girls tennis team recently wrapped up  a historic season.

The girls tennis team finished off the regular season with a 12-8 record which tied the school record for wins in a season. The team qualified for the SCC Tournament and advanced to the second round of the Class M State Tournament for the first time since 2005.

“It was a dream season for us,” head coach Mr. Kulenych said. “This was a special group of girls that worked so hard and continued to get better as the season went on. We had some incredible individual performances but what made the season so enjoyable was that to accomplish all we did we needed a total team effort and the girls stepped up and did that.”

During the regular season, the team recorded wins over Division I teams Guilford, Sacred Heart, and Foran as well as state tournament qualifiers Branford and Sheehan.

Individually, freshman Lucia Pino and senior Monica Pydipati qualified for the State Open Tennis Tournament and were named to the All-SCC team and Pino was named SCC Division II Player of the Year.

Pino also advanced to the Round of 16 at State Opens to become the first All-State girls tennis player in school history.

“Being the first girls in Law history to All-State for tennis is a super cool experience and I am extremely excited to be a part of it all,” Pino said.

Kulenych said he could not be prouder of Pino for the success she had during her first season.

“What Lucia was able to accomplish on and off the court this year was incredible,” Kulenych said. “She dominated on the court and was a leader of the team off of it. The best thing about Lucia, though, is even though she’s one of the best players in the state, she is an even better kid. She works as hard as any girl I’ve ever seen and we are all so excited to see her name go up on a banner.”

Other key players on the team throughout the season were sophomore Jenna Bagdasarian and freshman Diya Daruka at singles and junior Amelia Mower, senior Jenna Stash, senior Bridget Sanchez, freshman Sophie Maselli, junior Brynn Costello, and junior Meghan Loftus at doubles.

“I personally accomplished  becoming a better player overall,” Loftus said. “My main goal was to just relax and have more fun with it rather than getting mad easily.”

Costello said one of the highlights for her was beating Foran on Senior Night.

“I hope next year we can beat Foran both times,” Costello said. “And improve our record and make states and stay in states longer.”

Loftus said that Kulenych encourages the players to keep a positive mind-set, helping them believe in themselves.

“Mr. K. encouraged me and my teammates to do better by constantly cheering us on if we win points,” said Loftus, who won 16 matches this season with her doubles partner, Costello.. “He always keeps a positive attitude and assures us that we are very capable of winning. His little pep talks in between games always help me to remain positive and play better.”

Bagdasarian said that her favorite match was the team’s upset of Guilford.

“I beat the player from Guilford which I think was my best accomplishment since she was a Division I player and was known to be really good,” Bagdasarian said. “Our team ended up winning that match and the match against Foran allowing us to be only the second Division II team to qualify for SCCs and also knocked Guilford out of states.”

She said the team’s goal next year is to set more records.

“Next year my goals for the team is I hope we beat the record of 12 wins and make states again as a team, and this team make it past the first and second rounds,” Bagdasarian said.

The girls are excited for what the new season has in store for them individually and as a team.

“I’m mostly looking forward to meeting new players,” Loftus said. “I’m excited to create new friendships that hopefully last on and off the court.”

They are also excited to set new goals for themselves next season to improve even more.

“Goals that I’m setting for myself next season is to do my best and just have fun with it,” Loftus said. “I hope to have a good winning record but have fun while getting there. For my team, I hope we can make states again and go even further than we did this year. I also hope we can beat Foran both times next year.”