SACO — The No. 1 seeded Thornton Academy girls tennis team topped visiting Windham 4-1 in the Class A South quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon, a day after the boys punched their ticket to the semis.

The Trojans improve their overall record to 13-0, and advance in the tournament against either Scarborough or Cheverus in the semifinals on Saturday.

TA coach Dan Frost was proud of his club’s effort in the opening round of the postseason.

“It’s big because in the playoffs you never know what’s going to happen. They came out here and they played great tennis today, the weather conditions were tough and there are always some jitters going into the postseason but they stepped up and played really well and worked hard,” said Frost. 

Eva Sachs, who finished the regular season undefeated and competed in the state singles tournament, took a 6-0, 6-0 decision over Windham’s Paige Laferriere to give TA the 1-0 lead.

Emma Nassif, who also enjoyed an undefeated regular season and competed in the state tournament, won her singles match 6-0, 6-1 against Gabby Smith to extend the TA lead to 2-0. Brianna Paul later grinded out a 6-1, 6-3 win over Blanca Sturm.

Cordelia Perry and Katie Shedd continued to impress as TA’s top doubles pair, beating Cordelia Inman and Anna Cancelarich 6-3, 6-2. Windham’s lone point came in a 6-2, 6-1 win for Kiana Clark and Camilla Moltoni over TA’s Ky Nguyen and Yawen Lin.

Although the Trojans are flying high heading into the next round, they still plan on working hard as each match gets tougher.

“We’ve got great confidence and great momentum but at the same time its one match at a time,” said Frost. “Everything is all good in the regular season but you still have to show up to the courts and work hard every day. The girls know it and have done a good job.”

Frost has also been pleased with his team’s performances in the singles tournament, and feels that this will help keep the Trojans sharp looking ahead.

“I think things like the singles tournament are good way to prepare for playoff tennis. It’s going to help the girls, especially the ones in the tournaments that get to participate,” said Frost.

As TA looks to the semis, Frost and company feel that they are in a good place moving forward.

“We’re proud of today, we’re moving forward and feeling good.”

— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at asponseller@journaltribune.com.

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