Measured Progress: Despite State Final Loss to Ham/Wen, ME Girls Tennis Makes Its Mark

These were legit teams that ran seven players deep, and they were true team victories in both matches. We were able to play a lot of really good tennis because we practiced and worked hard. The tennis we were playing at the end was not the kind you play in the first few matches of the season”

he Manchester Essex girls tennis team spent more than half a season attempting to find its groove. Once the team did, that groove brought them all the way to the state title match against one of the heavyweights in their division.
From the end of March until the middle of May, the Hornets stayed just above .500 while trying to figure things out. After that, however, the team seemed to figure out, well, almost everything, going 8-2 over that span including a seven-match win streak that propelled Manchester Essex to the MIAA Div. 4 State Finals.
That momentum ran out against fellow Cape Ann League Baker team Hamilton-Wenham, with the Generals defeating the Hornets by a 5-0 score in the title match and ending their season.
“It was still a great day, we were happy to make it [to the state final],” explains Manchester Essex
girls tennis coach Barrett Alston. “It was a goal of ours, and we did it.”
Manchester Essex may have run into the one team that had more momentum than they did heading into the final match; Hamilton-Wenham had won its last nine matches in a row to get there, and quite simply had the better day. The 5-0 result could be considered a bit of a surprise considering both teams split their pair of regular season matchups against one another.
“The first doubles team went to three sets, that was a tight match,” Manchester Essex girls tennis coach Barrett Alston says of the loss to HW. “The positives and the takeaways are that we got hot at the right time of the year – we won seven in a row to get here, and that this was a whole three-month season in which we got better the whole time.”
Despite the disappointing ending, the journey to the finals was a thrilling one, capped off by a dramatic 3-2 win over Bromfield in the Final Four on June 11. Sarah Cort won, 6-1, 6-1, at second singles and the duo of Libbly Lawler and Nina Zalosh won their own hotly-contested match at first doubles, 6-3, 7-6 to provide two of the necessary three points to win. Then it was up to Grace Scarbrough, who won an unforgettable and lengthy match at third singles (5-7, 6-3, 7-6) to break a 2-2 tie and help the Hornets move on to the state final game.
“The Final Four was incredible,” says Alston. “It was tied, 2-2. For the last kind of hour, hour and fifteen, it was just Grace Scarbrough at third singles playing. She won in a third-set tiebreaker to send us to the finals. An incredible moment under huge pressure.”
The celebration after was as impressive as Scarbrough’s performance.
“Grace kind of collapsed on the court from exhaustion and joy, and everybody ran onto the court and pig-piled on top of her,” explains Alston. “It was a great moment for Grace and the whole program, everyone involved. It was awesome.”
The win was a culmination of the sheer amount of effort and hard work needed to get through this spring. Between the usual high level of challenge posed by the rest of the CAL and the non-divisional opponents who were anything but pushovers, this was not the easiest of seasons. That may have been to the benefit of the Hornets, however, who used those challenges as early-season lessons, turning them into wins against playoff-caliber opponents.
“This year, we went in as the six-seed and had to hit the road as underdogs in the quarterfinals and semis,” explains Alston. “These were legit teams that ran seven players deep, and they were true team victories in both matches. We were able to play a lot of really good tennis because we practiced and worked hard. The tennis we were playing at the end was not the kind you play in the first few matches of the season.”
The goal is for that momentum and experience to translate into the 2026 season, when all three singles starters and a lone holdover from doubles return.
“Our returning singles represent an awesome foundation we can build on for next year,” says Alston. “We are also expecting big things out of our freshmen.”
With that said, the team will still miss the contributions of outgoing seniors Libby Lawler, Nina Zalosh and Ella Arntsen. Lawler and Zalosh comprised a very successful pairing at first doubles, while Arntsen was a stalwart at second doubles.
“Ella had never played tennis in her life until this year,” says Alston. “She and her partner at second doubles had the clinching win in the quarterfinal to make the Final Four. To go from never playing tennis to having success at that level out of nowhere is pretty amazing.”
While Lawler wasn’t quite as new to the sport, it was her first year at the varsity level, and her coach lauded her ability to step into the spotlight and excel in high-pressure situations. He
also gave kudos to team captain Zalosh, who successfully made the transition from singles to doubles player this spring.
“She truly embraced the idea of doubles and the aggressive skill set it requires,” explains Alston. “Her growth over the season to take over doubles matches was impressive, and I couldn’t be prouder of her as a competitor, player and captain.”

MIAA Division 4 Tournament Results (MERHS Girls Tennis)
6/1/25: Rockport, 4-1 WIN (Round of 32)
6/2/25: Amesbury, 5-0 WIN (Sweet 16)
6/8/25: Monomoy Regional, 4-1 WIN (Elite Eight)
6/11/25: Bromfield, 3-2 WIN (Final Four)
6/15/25: Hamilton-Wenham, 5-0 LOSS (State Final)