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Londonderry falls just short of first title

Thursday, June, 02 By Jeff Hamrick

MANCHESTER —  The Londonderry girls tennis squad might have fallen just short of its ultimate goal, but it’s obvious the program that went winless two years ago is on the right track.

Facing defending state champion Bishop Guertin at The Derryfield School in yesterday’s state finals, the Lancers just missed winning the school’s first tennis title, dropping a 5-4 decision.

Londonderry (14-3) became the first team this season to win four matches against the Cardinals, who finished 17-0 for the second straight year. In fact, the Lancers, who dropped a 6-3 regular-season decision to BG, were the only team to win as many as three against the Cardinals, who shutout six opponents and won five other matches 8-1.

“We knew it would be close,” said Londonderry coach Tom Meighan, who after going 0-14 two years ago, guided the Lancers to a semifinal appearance last year. “We played a better match (yesterday) than we did the last time we played them. This year, we’ve taken it to the next step.

“Our expectations (entering the season) were very high I really thought we had a chance to be one of the top one or two teams. I thought I had something very special.”

Meighan had a pair of special freshman at the top of his lineup in Ana Milosavlijevic, who rallied from a 4-1 deficit to defeat Jennifer Dal 8-5 at No. 1 singles, and Cassie Burbine, who remained undefeated with a dominating 8-0 victory at No. 2.

“I just try to do what I can with my singles, and that’s all I can really do,” said Burbine, who was perfect in 14 singles and doubles matches this year. “I just try to get my wins for the team. We have a lot of underclassmen, so we have to work hard and hopefully get back to the state championship again a little stronger.”

Londonderry’s other victories were in the top two doubles matches when Burbine and sophomore Amanda DePasquale won 8-1 and Milosavlijevic and LeBlanc won 8-6.

Windham’s Julia Filler played a major roll in BG’s win, claiming an 8-1 victory at No. 5 singles and teaming with Alison Murphy for an 8-3 win in the clinching No. 3 doubles.

At No. 6 singles, Cassandra Cronin was involved in the day’s most exciting match against Murphy, who defeated the Londonderry sophomore 8-1 in the regular season. Cronin rallied from a 3-0 hole and trailed 7-6 before overcoming two match points to tie the score. Murphy, however, lost the final two games.

After combining for a 38-4 record, Londonderry’s top three of Milosavlijevic, Burbine and DePasquale will provide optimism for an even better 2012 campaign.

“I don’t know where we’re going to be next year,” Meighan said. “Am I going to have a good team? Absolutely. I can tell you we’re going to have a very good team, but we have a lot of youth that we have to work on and develop.”