By JOSH BURRIS
The Norwell Lady Knights are sectional champions once again after a 4-1 victory over the Bellmont Braves on the Norwell High School tennis courts on Saturday.
Norwell came into the tournament as a heavy favorite on paper with a 17-1 record and having beaten all the othe teams in the bracket. Coach Holly Kimball said it was great to see her team not only defeat Bellmont once again, but live up to the expectations.
“It feels great,” Kimball said after her team received the trophy. “It’s really hard to come in here as a favorite and actually produce what you are supposed to do. To have the girls pull it off at the same four courts that we won last time is great.”
Addy Heyerly got Norwell on the board first with a quick 6-1, 6-0 win over Leila Jin in No. 3 singles. Bellmont’s Olivia Selking tied it up 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-3 win in No. 1 singles over Aubreyan Heyerly.
Jordyn Xayyachack and Sofia Fernandez put Norwell back in front with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) win in No. 2 doubles over Isabelle Ortiz and Marisol Jackson.
Norwell did go on to win the No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles matchups, but Bellmont did not make it easy as both went to three sets.
Annabelle Johnson and Mackinzie Toliver secured the championship for Norwell with a 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1 win over Ella Kintz and Dana Schirack in No. 1 doubles. And McKenna McNabb ended the day with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win in No. 2 singles over Emy Faurote.
“Props to Bellmont,” Kimball said. “They made a big fight out of both No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles. And to see our girls step up and basically dominate in the third set, it was wonderful to see that kind of fight.”
The win gives Norwell its seventh sectional championship in program history and first since 2019. The Knights played in last year’s championship match as well, but lost to the Adams Central Lady Jets 3-2.
Kimball said her team was determined to win sectional this year, but attributed that more to her team’s competitive mindset than last year’s result.
“I don’t know if last year really played a role. I think it was more that we have really competitive girls and they have some bad memories of losing in other sports. So I think that actually did more. We were just really motivated to win sectional, and get that for our seniors.”
Norwell will move on to regional competition at Carroll on Tuesday and open up against Homestead. Homestead is the only team that has defeated Norwell this season and did so by a 4-1 score back on April 20.
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