MIDDLETOWN — Archmere’s girls tennis team finished second to Tower Hill in the DIAA championships, capping another strong season for the Auks on the court. Archmere went undefeated in the regular season and had finalists in four of the five events at the championships, which were held May 23 at St. Andrew’s School in Middletown.
Two of those finalists — Brianna Yang and Susie Shipley — won individual state championships in second and third singles, respectively, while the first doubles team of Valentina Ramos and Rebecca Wang, and the second doubles duo of Sophia Chen and Emily Shipley, were runners up. Yang, Shipley and the first doubles team were all seeded first during the tournament, while the second doubles team was the second seed.
Archmere’s first singles player, Ella Strohmaier, also was the second seed. She fell in the semifinals to Gracie Clark of Caesar Rodney. Strohmaier, who won the second singles championship as a junior, was a co-captain of the Auks this year, along with Chen, the team’s other senior. She spent the afternoon walking from court to court cheering on her teammates.
The Auks had a tough assignment awaiting them at St. Andrew’s. Tower Hill had finalists in all five events and needed to win two of them for the title. The Auks needed wins in three of their four finals. Yang and Susie Shipley earned two of those, but Tower Hill’s second doubles team of Meghan Mumford and Lily Leung picked up one for the Hillers. Ramos and Wang had split the first two sets with Tower’s Anna Schiltz and Ellen Kirifides, the second-seeded pair, so it came down to a deciding third set.
With all of the other girls matches completed, players and fans migrated to watch the final battle under a hot sun.
The teams held serve through the first four games, but the Hillers came back to break serve in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. They increased the lead to 5-2 before Wang and Ramos took another game, but the Hillers won the next game and the match after three grueling hours.
Yang, a junior, said this season was very fulfilling. The Auks went 14-0 during the regular season, sweeping all but one match. They were scheduled to play Tower Hill in the final match of the regular season, but it was shortened by rain.
“I’m so happy,” she said. “Ella and Sophia, our captains, they both had great senior years, and we’re going to miss them so much. We had an undefeated season.”
As for her own match, Yang defeated Keerthi Nelluri of Tower Hill in a tough battle.
“She’s great. I wish both of us could have won,” Yang said.
Susie Shipley made the switch from doubles to singles for her sophomore season and defeated the Hillers’ Sophie Crane. She said the key was making Crane do a lot of running. The individual championship “feels really amazing.”
That was outweighed, however, by the team’s success.
“I’m so glad to be a part of the team this year,” she said.
Photos by Mike Lang.
