The Sun Chronicle K Sunday, July 9, 2017 A7

SPRING HIGH SCHOOL ALL-STARS

THE GIRLS’ TENNIS ALL-STARS

THE ALL-STAR ROSTER

Name School Year

Ali Sollecito Bishop Feehan Sr.Sophia Prinos Foxboro Jr.Lexi Nelson Foxboro Sr.Julia Muise Foxboro Soph.Becca Ricci King Philip Sr.Meghan Sepich King Philip Jr.Erin Regnier King Philip Fr.Paulina Martin Mansfield Sr.Emily Chiasson North Attleboro Sr.Jordan Willis North Attleboro Jr.Azka Siddiq North Attleboro Jr.Gabby Duva North Attleboro Sr.

HONORABLE MENTION

BISHOP FEEHAN: Lauren Falvey, Chloe Burke.DIGHTON-REHOBOTH: Kristin Perez, Ashley Fre-

dette, Grace Harrison.FOXBORO: Kayla Prag.KING PHILIP: Carly Adams, Meg Davenport.MANSFIELD: Sarah Doyle, Chloe Peters.NORTH ATTLEBORO: Katie DeMontigny, Hana

Hershey.NORTON: Meg Moriarty, Stephanie Murphy, Brooke

Murphy.SEEKONK: Morgan Anderson, Charlotte Drainville.

OUR SELECTIONS, WITH ASSISTANCE

THE GIRLS’ TENNIS all-star team was selected by Peter Gobis. Local coaches were consulted for their recommendations.

LEAGUE ALL-STARS

HOCKOMOCK LEAGUE

FOXBORO: Sophia Prinos, Lexi Nelson.KING PHILIP: Becca Ricci.MANSFIELD: Paulina Martin, Sarah Doyle.NORTH ATTLEBORO: Emily Chiasson, Jordan Willi,

Gabby Duva, Azka Siddiq.

EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

BISHOP FEEHAN: Ali Sollecito, Chloe Burke.

By PETER GOBIS

pgobis@thesunchronicle.com

It’s been quite the journey for King Phil-ip Regional High School girls’ tennis coach Bob Goldberg through 45 seasons

of coaching.Goldberg is in his fifth decade of cajol-

ing the hundreds of student-athletes who have come under his guidance, driving them to become better tennis players and even better people through all of their practice sessions, wins and losses, collec-tively as individuals and as a team.

During that time, Goldberg has directed the King Philip Regional High girls’ tennis program to 39 tournament appearances. And again in the 2017 season, the veter-an coach and three of his Warriors, who captured the Kelley-Rex Division champi-onship in the Hockomock League, highlight the selections to The Sun Chronicle’s All-Star Girls’ Tennis Team.

The Warriors are represented by its trio of singles players — Meghan Sepich, Erin Regnier and Becca Ricci.

Coach Geoff Burgess’ Division 1-South quarterfinalist North Attleboro High School team is represented by its top two doubles players, Jordan Willis and Emily Chiasson, along with the Red Rocketeers’ doubles tandem of Azka Siddiq and Gabby Duva.

The 2016 MIAA Division 2 state cham-pion Foxboro High Warriors were led by Sophia Prinos and Lexi Nelson then, and that duo (along with Julia Muise) led the team to the quarterfinal round of postsea-son play this season.

Rounding out the all-star team are two repeat selections, both seniors, Bishop Feehan High’s Ali Sollecito and Mansfield High’s Paulina Martin.

Ricci overcame a heel injury to post

10 wins in the No. 1 singles spot for King Philip, while Sepich rallied from ACL surgery in October to earn 14 wins at No. 3 singles for the Warriors. Both are repeat All-Sun Chronicle selections.

And Regnier, in her KP rookie season, compiled an eye-popping 15 wins, 13 in the No. 2 singles spot and a pair at No. 1 singles.

The Warriors won 18 matches overall and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Division 1-South Tournament, having earned their first Hockomock League divi-sional title since 2011.

The Wentworth Institute-bound Sollecito played atop the Bishop Feehan ladder in each of the past two seasons after re-bounding from season-ending ACL surgery during her sophomore season.

She posted 11 wins overall for the Sham-rocks, who won 10 games in the regular seasongained an MIAA Division 1 Tourna-ment triumph over Mansfield.

Holy Cross-bound Martin, Mansfield High’s No. 1 singles player in each of her four seasons, won 10 matches during Hockomock League and MIAA Tournament competition, in addition to a pair of wins

at the MIAA Singles Tournament.The No. 7-seeded Rocketeers of North

Attleboro won 17 matches overall, taking a win over Braintree in the Division 1-South Tournament before losing to eventual final-ist Wellesley.

Chiasson and Willis, both juniors, secured 15 and 16 victories respectively at the No. 1 and 2 singles spots, while Siddiq and Duva, both National Honor Society members, came through with 11 wins.

Foxboro won 14 matches this season, beating Dartmouth in the first round of postseason play before falling to eventual Division 2-South champion Hingham in the quarterfinal round.

Prinos moved from No. 2 singles into the No. 1 spot and took 12 wins; Nelson moved from No. 3 singles into No. 2 singles and delivered 16 wins; while Muise, who secured the state title winning point for Foxboro last season at doubles, notched 10 wins at No. 3 singles.

The future of tennis in the area is good.

Not only are two of KP’s three selections underclassmen, but also exactly half of the all-stars will be back for at least one more season on the area’s courts.

Excellence continues at KPTrio of singles players tops the list of all-star selections

Emily Chiasson/North Attleboro

Chiasson posted a 15-7 record playing in the No. 1 singles spot for the 17-win Rocketeers, quarterfinalists at the Division 1-South Tourna-ment. “She never gives up on a point, a game or a set,” said North coach Geoff Burgess. “She’s a great competitor, one of the smartest players I have ever coached.” Also an All-Sun Chroni-cle soccer team selection, she is a member of the National Honor Society and Leo Club. “She learns quickly how to beat someone and then goes to that winning combination frequently,” added Burgess. She beat Bishop Feehan’s Ali Sollecito twice, overcoming a 7-1 third set and overcame a one-set deficit to beat Taunton’s Olivia Sweeney.

Becca Ricci/King Philip

A two-time All-Sun Chronicle selection, Ric-ci posted a 10-6 record in the No. 1 singles spot for the Kelley-Rex Divi-sion champion Warriors. “And she played injured for the entire season with a painful heel injury and never complained, a true team player,” said coach Bob Goldberg. “She has a very consistent two-handed forehand and two handed backhand.” With superior foot speed, she is able to run down most balls and stay in the point, even with the injury. Ricci helped KP win 18 matches and advance to the quar-terfinals of the Division 1-South Tournament. The daughter of Providence College women’s coach and former KP great Becky Lewicki, she will attend Johnson and Wales.

Alli Sollecito/Bishop Feehan

The Shamrocks’ No. 1 singles player for the past two seasons, Sol-lecito compiled an 11-6 record this season. A product of the Lakeville Tennis Club, she will at-tend Wentworth. She was Bishop Feehan’s No. 2 singles player as a fresh-man, but then missed her entire sophomore season due to ACL surgery. Sollecito had an impressive win over KP’s Becca Ricci this sea-son and won two rounds at the MIAA Singles Tournament. “Her intense focus on the court sets her apart,” said coach Rob Zimmer. “She’s very serious and she’s a real role model for the younger players.” A three-time Sun Chron-icle all-star selection, she serves with Project Unite and the Campus Ministry.

Jordan Willis/North Attleboro

The Rocketeer junior dominated the No. 2 sin-gles position for North and in the Hockomock League, fashioning a 16-5 match record overall. “She was consistently winning matches 6-0, 6-0 during the season,” said North coach Geoff Bur-gess of Willis, who had the athleticism and a very defined skill set to wear out her foes. Her four losses in the regular season were to Fox-boro’s Lexi Nelson and Sharon’s Emily Zhang. Willis is also a member of the North Attleboro cross country team, a repeat All-Sun Chronicle selection and a member of the National Honor Society and Peer Leadership. In her third var-sity season, Willis has also played at the No. 1 and 3 spots.

Meghan Sepich/King Philip

A two-time All-Sun Chronicle selection, the Warrior junior under-went ACL and meniscus surgery during the first week of October and one would hardly have no-ticed on the courts this spring. Sepich posted a gaudy 13-0 record in the No. 3 singles spot for the Kelley-Rex Division champion Warriors, who won 18 matches over-all and reached the quarterfinals of the Divi-sion 1-South Tournament. “She was fanatical about physical therapy, which allowed her to come back and play for us,” said KP coach Bob Goldberg. Sepich took the key team point against Taunton to secure the league title. She is also a member of the National, English, French and Science Honor societies.

Sophia Prinos/Foxboro

Moving into the No. 1 singles spot for the War-riors, Prinos delivered a dozen wins for Foxboro. “Her game speaks for itself,” said Warriors’ coach Jon Montanaro of her dogged persistence for every point. With a well-tailored all-around game, the latest member of the talented Prinos family went 12-4 overall and helped Foxboro win 14 matches and advance to the quarter-finals of the Division 2-South Tournament. The Warrior captain “hits one of the hardest balls I’ve seen,” said Montanaro. Prinos won four rounds at the MIAA Singles Tournament, reaching the round of the Elite Eight. She is a member of the National and French Honor so-cieties, the Student Council and Best Buddies.

Azka Siddiq/North Attleboro

In her third varsi-ty season and first as a full-time starter, Siddiq moved into the No. 1 doubles spot with Gab-by Duva and the tandem immediately clicked, helping North produce 17 wins, being quarter-finalists at the Division 1-South tourney. The duo went 11-2 on the season, losing only to Wellesley in the MIAA Tourna-ment, while splitting the season series with Sharon. “It was noticeable that they played better when they got sent out together,” said coach Geoff Burgess. “They have strong com-munication, aggressively played the net, and were very supportive of each other after er-rors.” Siddiq is also a member of the National Honor Society, Leo Club and Peer Leadership.

Erin Regnier/King Philip

Without a doubt the Warriors’ Rookie of the Year and one of the most promising young play-ers in the Hockomock League, Regnier posted a glittering 15-2 record in the No. 2 singles spot and was 2-2 at No. 1 sin-gles, winning her match-es in less than an hour, rarely losing more than two games. In addition, she won two rounds at the MIAA Singles Tournament, her play a determining factor in KP winning 18 matches overall and capturing the Kelley-Rex Division title. With a big top-spin forehand and consis-tent backhand, “she can hit a great slice drop shot or can also hit a top-spin backhand,” said coach Bob Goldberg. She is also a member of the KP volleyball team.

Lexi Nelson/Foxboro

One of the best pure athletes in the Hocko-mock League, also a run-ner and a swimmer, the Warrior senior capped her career with a most fashionable 16-1 record in the No. 2 singles po-sition. She earned two wins over a member of the two-time state cham-pion Martha’s Vineyard team and beat Sharon’s Emily Zheng 7-6 in the third set of their match. “Her athleticism, her dedication to the sport are remarkable,” said Foxboro coach Jon Montanaro. A four-year fix-ture in the varsity lineup, Nelson also won a round at the MIAA Singles Tournament. The Brown University-bound Nelson is a member of the National Honor Society, Best Buddies and served as class treasurer.

Gabby Duva/North Attleboro

The Rocketeers’ se-nior has left her imprint on the program for four seasons with her tireless energy and off-the-court leadership. A member of the National Honor Society, Duva will be at-tending Georgia Tech. With Azka Siddiq in their first season as a tandem at the No. 1 doubles spot, the duo posted an 11-2 record overall, losing only to Wellesley and Sharon. “There was good chemstry between those two right from the start of the season, they seemed to give each other more confidence,” said North coach Geoff Burgess, noting that the duo took key wins over Sharon and Taunton. They helped North post a 17-5 record and advance to the quarterfinals of the Division 1-South tourney.

Paulina Martin/Mansfield

A four-time All-Sun Chronicle selection, and the Hornets’ No. 1 sin-gles player for each sea-son, Martin posted a 10-7 record overall, including nice wins over KP’s Bec-ca Ricci and Taunton’s Olivia Sweeney. A prod-uct of the Brown Billone Club, the Holy Cross-bound Martin “has a terrific forehand and is very good at sizing up her opponents, she was steady and played a lot calmer,” said coach Lisa Yeransian. Mar-tin played with poise and persistence, gaining Hockomock League all-star acclaim. The Hor-net captain led MHS into the MIAA Tourna-ment with a 9-9 record. She is also a member of the National Honor Society, the Student Ser-vice Corps and Common Connection.

Julia Muise/Foxboro

Coach Jon Montanaro wonders if Foxboro would have won 14 matches overall and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Division 2-South Tourna-ment without the dogged determination and im-provement of Muise, the No. 3 singles player. Muise compiled a 10-4 re-cord overall, including a key win over North’s Gabby Duva for the de-cisive third team point, Foxboro finishing sec-ond in the Davenport Division. The sophomore “grew into her role,” said Montanaro, “and she played through (knee) injuries.” A doubles player last season, delivering a key point in Foxboro’s state title run, Muise is also a mem-ber of the Foxboro High swimming team and participates in Best Buddies.

PAUL CONNORS / THE SUN CHRONICLE

King Philip’s Erin Regnier returns a volley during

her regular-season match match against Mans-

field’s Sarah Doyle.

MARTIN GAVIN / THE SUN CHRONICLE/

Bishop Feehan High’s Ali Sollecito prepares to return a volley to Dighton-Rehoboth’s Kristina Perez

during their singles match in Attleboro earlier in the season.