By David Steinbacher
Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 11/4/04)

The Paul VI Panthers dominated the recent WCAC tennis championships. The prestigious annual event was held Oct. 26-28 at the College Park Tennis Center.

The Lady Panthers, coached by Craig Tutt (fifth season), steamrolled the competition and captured the 2004 WCAC Tennis Title for the fourth consecutive season.

"This year’s team was the strongest since I’ve been here," said Tutt.

Nine teams competed for the title and PVI’s 51 team points made for, far and away, the top team score. Rounding out the upper tier: Holy Cross — second with 17 points; Ireton — third with 11 points; and St. John’s — fourth with seven points.

PVI senior Maria Sotirchos won the singles No. 1 for the second year in a row. Sotirchos improved to 10-0 on the season, after pummeling McNamara and St. Mary’s Ryken in the quarterfinals/semi-finals respectively before defeating Holy Cross 10-6 in the finals.

"I was very aggressive today," said Sotirchos.

"Maria really has the whole package. Her game is very complete," said Tutt.

Senior Marie Zapolski won the singles No. 2. Zapolski, also a lacrosse standout for coach Joe Dannemann, soundly defeated O’Connell and St. John’s in the quarterfinals/semi-finals respectively before defeating Holy Cross 10-8 in the finals.

"The finals match was tied 5-5," said Zapolski. "I served and went ahead 6-5. From that point forward, I led the rest of the way. Most of the points were long rallies. I kept hitting the ball deep and caused her to run a lot." The senior improved to 13-1 overall in 2004.

"Marie has really improved her serve and her forehand is very good," said Tutt.

PVI senior Michelle Dimitroff won the singles No. 4 for the second year in a row. Dimitroff thoroughly dispatched Seton and Good Counsel in the quarterfinals/semi-finals respectively, before defeating Laura Parente of Ireton 11-9 in the finals.

"The Ireton girl (Parente) led 9-8," said Dimitroff. "I tied it 9-9 and was fortunate to eventually win it 11-9. Tutt gave me a pep talk late in the match. I played my own game (down the stretch) and I kept the ball low, so she had trouble returning it." Dimitroff improved to 13-0 on the season.

"Michelle’s ground strokes are very good," said Tutt.

PVI sophomore Cat Crisostomo won the singles No. 5 with a convincing 10-3 victory versus St. John’s in the finals (quarterfinals/semi-finals info unavailable).

"Cat has improved so very much from last season to this season. None of her matches this season were really very close. Her ground strokes are good and she has good speed," said Tutt. The sophomore improved to 3-0 on the season.
Panther junior Lauren Lamberti won the singles No. 6. She thrashed Holy Cross and O’Connell in the quarterfinals/semi-finals respectively, before dispatching Ireton’s Meghan Hurley 10-2 in the finals.

"Lauren lost to the Ireton girl in September. She wanted to show that she was really the better player. She is a very patient player that stays in every point," said Tutt.

"My placement of shots was important. The Ireton girl … just couldn’t return the shots, and I used some power to my advantage," said Lamberti, who improved to 12-1 on the season.
Panther junior Anita Sagar won the singles No. 3 for the second consecutive season. The junior lost to Holy Cross 10-7 in the finals. Sagar finished the season with an 11-2 record. Sagar, Crisostomo and Lamberti will lead the Panthers next season.

PVI captured all three doubles gold medals. Sotirchos/Zapolski combined to win the doubles No. 1 title and improved to 9-0 on the season.

The two seniors soundly defeated O’Connell/St. Mary’s Ryken in the quarterfinals/semi-finals respectively, before knocking off Holy Cross 10-7 in the finals.

"We were both aggressive today," said Sotirchos.

"We gave each other a lot of encouragement. Communication was key between myself and Maria," said Zapolski.

"Maria and Marie have had good chemistry since day one. They also won the won the WCAC doubles title in 2003 and in 2001," said Tutt.

Dimitroff/Sagar combined to win the doubles No. 2 title. The senior/junior defeated Ireton’s Laura Parente/Meghan Bohn 10-6 in the finals to improve to 12-0 on the season.
"We communicated well out there today. Anita played the baseline, and I played the net," said Dimitroff.

Crisostomo and Lamberti only played singles, and therefore Tutt turned to the high-powered junior combination of Katie Moran and Rebecca Neville to capture the Panthers final gold medal of the competition.

Moran/Neville defeated St. Mary’s Ryken/Ireton in the quarterfinals/semi-finals respectively, before defeating the O’Connell senior combination of Darcy Fitzpatrick/Mary Anne Feeney in the finals by the score of 10-6.

"Katie and Rebecca practiced hard all week, and they were very focused. They kept their serves in," said Tutt.

"We worked well together. We were pumped up. We played the best that we could," said Moran. The junior tandem improved to 11-1 on the season.
"All of the girls this season have really taken a real big interest in the team," said Tutt.