


CAMBRIDGE — Ana Lynch had a case of nerves early in her No. 3 singles match against Weston’s Jackie Burns, but the best remedy to shaking them off was playing solid tennis the rest of the way.
The Newburyport junior fell behind early before rebounding and coming away with a much-deserved 7-5, 6-3 match win. That victory broke a 2-2 tie and lifted the Clippers to a 3-2 decision over top-ranked Weston (10-9) and a second consecutive Div. 3 title. The No. 2 ranked Clippers finished their stellar season at 20-3.
The contest came down to Lynch and Burns outside after the two teams split in the MIT tennis bubble after being forced inside because of rain. Lynch was trying to stay engaged during her match and fed off the cheers of the Newburyport fans.
“I was trying to tune things out, but the crowd was really great,” she said. “I usually get tight under pressure, but they really helped me. I was down 3-5 in the first set and after I came back I got a lot of confidence.”
Newburyport’s terrific Caroline Schulson rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 win over and the No. 1 doubles team of Lila Li and Libby Galton was victorious (6-8, 6-2, 6-3) while the No. 2 tandem of Bridgette Mellete and Lauren Brennan also added a win (6-3, 7-5).
“We weren’t communicating really well our first set so we slowed down our play,” said Galton. “We went into each point with a strategy rather than blindly hitting it.”
Newburyport head coach Jana Schulson said much of the success this spring came from the players focusing on improving in the offseason.
“We shuffled people around and the girls practiced really hard all year,” said Schulson. “We told (Ana) to take it easy and play her game. I’m so happy we did it again. It was just awesome.”