By Michael Wojtychiw

Payton’s girls tennis squad has got a flare for the dramatic.

Last year’s Grizzlies squad broke Whitney Young’s stronghold of the city title scene, winning the championship on a tiebreaker. Well Payton was back at it again last Friday when teams met at Riis Park for the 2023 city championships.

For the second consecutive season, Payton brought home a city title, also thanks to a tiebreaker, this time defeating Lane on a head-to-head tiebreaker.

“The same way, the third tiebreaker,” Payton coach Jean Casserly said. “To be honest, I’m shocked we came through because we’ve been in the middle of the pack all season long. I told the girls ‘Do the best you can, play the best you can and that’s what they did.”

For the Grizzlies, this year has been a learning process, as their coach feels as if the team has gotten better throughout the year.

“I told the girls all season long that we’re building something here and the losses are here to teach us what to work on,” the Grizzlies coach said. “And that’s what they’ve done. Our doubles play was great today. They realized everything we were doing up until this point was what worked today.”

Another similarity between the two winning squads is who led the way. 

Last year saw the Grizzlies’ top doubles squad of Maya Jha and Cora Vinarov won the No. 1 doubles title and followed it up with a title at No. 2 doubles courtesy of Lilia Tanabe and Nina Shinall.

Both Tanabe and Shinall moved to the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions, meaning that the Grizzlies would have a new doubles lineup. The difference in 2023, however, is that unlike the previous year, the Grizzlies’ top team was not a top-four seed, meaning it would have to face three of the top four seeds en route to the title match.

Not only did the Grizzlies do that, they took them all down, defeating the second-seeded team from Young 6-0, 5-7, 10-6, the three/four seed from Northside 6-3, 6-3 and then sweeping Lane in the title match 6-4, 6-4.

“The doubles teams are coming together at the right time,” Casserly said.

Lane swept the singles titles with freshman Maya Kasza taking the No. 1 singles title with a win over Young 6-2, 6-4 and Alessia Olsen defeated her Young opponent 6-0, 6-1 in No. 2 singles. 

Young’s Moira Koleno and Hollis Vandermeid won the No. 2 doubles title with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Payton and the Grizzlies’ No. 3 doubles team of Claire Walker and Samantha Pilgrim brought home the title with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, three-set win over Lincoln Park.

“I play a lot more than most girls do, so I hold myself to a higher standard,” she said. “It’s nice to win. I would have been disappointed in myself if I didn’t win because I’m a perfectionist.

“My slice and serve really helped me a lot.”

Kasza came back in the second set from being down 4-3 to win the next three games and ultimately the set.

“I just wanted to hold my serve. Every time I’m down I tell myself that’s it’s a hold and a brake, a hold and a brake,” she said. “I was praying to God that I made the serves.”

Photos by Margo Grogan/OSA