• by Emily Murnin '13
• reprinted from the December 2011 issue of the Bulldog Press

The dry spell is officially over. For the first time in twenty-three years, the girl’s tennis team dominated the state championships and came away with a team title. Along with the team title, the Judge girls also walked away with three individual titles, winning second and third singles, as well as second doubles.

Leading up to the state championships, the girls competed in the region championships to determine their positions at state. They blazed through the competition, taking the team title in the end. This gave the team an extra boost of confidence that they rode to capture the team state title.

Playing at second doubles for Judge this year was the senior team of Alyssa Corbett and Ali Clayton. It was the fourth and final year for the two of them playing doubles. The two seniors played together freshman and sophomore year, but were separated last year when head coach Lani Wilcox decided a change might be good for the girls. But when both of their partners graduated last year, Alyssa and Ali were once again in position to play with one another, something that both of them were comfortable with because they knew each other’s games so well.

Alyssa claims, “Ali and I have been through a lot of good and bad times, to the point where Lani told us we would never be allowed to play together again. Luckily she saw our potential and knew that we know each other’s games better than our own. When it came down to it we put our mutual goal and dream of winning state first and let nothing stand in our way. It was our year apart that let us see how much we really appreciate each other.”

New to the varsity lineup this year were the first doubles team: freshman Lizzie Loughridge and sophomore Julia Corbett, and second singles player, Whitney Weisberg, a freshman. Close friends Loughridge and Corbett had a strong showing at state, losing in the semifinals to Ogden, who eventually went on to capture the first doubles state title.

Loughridge added, “Even though Julia and I didn’t win individually, the whole season was a win. We all won as a team, and shared in the feeling of accomplishment. I loved playing with Julia and it was an amazing season.”

Freshman Whitney Weisberg was the standout on the Judge team this year. Whitney stormed through regions and state, captured the second singles state title, and only ended up losing five games the entire season, an amazing feat, even more so for a freshman.

Finally, rounding up the lineup were returning players Kaitlyn Iwasaki and Emily Murnin, sophomore and junior, respectively. Murnin led the team at first singles and had a strong showing at regions, taking the individual title, and losing in the semifinals at state in a tough fought match. Iwasaki played at third singles this year, and by playing her hard-hitting,but consistent game, fought her way to her first individual state title.