In what can only be described as an epic battle of skill and will, Thayer Academy’s girls varsity tennis team fought back Saturday to defeat the Rivers School.  

Thayer hosted Rivers April 15 on what proved to be a perfect weather day for tennis. The Tigers were prepared to play a strong team from Weston, and the day opened with the Red Wings taking two out of three doubles matches to go up 2-1. (In tennis, there are a total of nine points which can be won, so as soon as one team gets five points total, they have won the match.) Rivers’s #1 and #2 players were spectacular and won at those positions.  

It was Thayer's #3, #4, #5, and #6 singles positions who shifted the balance and offered the Tigers a real chance at victory. Bella Mazzocco ‘25 stepped in to play for Tess Meyers ‘23, the team captain, who was at Villanova on her revisit day. Mazzocco took that match 6-4, 6-0. At #5, Kelly Costello ‘23 played smart and focused to win her match 6-2, 6-2. With these two wins, the overall team score moved to a 4-3 advantage to Rivers with two matches still in progress.

In a true match to remember, #3 Meg Corry ‘24 won her first set 6-3 but lost the second set 6-4. In a new format this year, such a match is decided by playing a 10-point Super Tiebreaker. These can take a while to play as a player must reach 10 points but also win by a margin of two points. A tremendous back-and-forth battle ensued with each player having the lead at different times. When the Rivers player had two match points and was leading 9-7, Corry dug deep and came away with a 13-11 victory to take the match.

With both teams tied at four points, #6 Clare Hayes ‘24 was still on the court and leading 7-5, 5-0. She won the next game to finish her match and give Thayer the final point needed to win the day with a 5-4 victory for the Tigers.

“It was truly such an exciting match and the sportsmanship displayed by both teams was exceptional,” said head coach Sally Goldman P ‘99, ‘00, ‘03.