By Max Yurko ’27
Source: St. Paul’s Athletics Instagram
After struggling through a disappointing season which saw the Gators sitting in second to last place in their conference, the varsity girls rallied during their end of season tournament to finish second overall. Singles standouts Ananya Parekh (‘26) and Grace Yurko (‘25) dropped only one and two matches respectively throughout the season. Yet the Gators struggled to capture team wins in their conference matches. Scoring a team victory over Notre Dame Prep early in the season, the Gators found themselves winless in successive matches and struggling to find their balance. The team suffered unfortunate deficits during the season due to injuries by Adair Roulette (‘25) and Charlye Krajewski (‘25) who was able to rally back to compete in the final weeks. Overall, the team record stood at 2-6 as they entered the final tournament which ultimately determines conference standings.
Although SPSG’s first and third ranked doubles teams met defeat in the quarterfinal round, both singles competitors, Parekh and Yurko, and the second ranked doubles team of Lizzie Buhlman (‘25) and Krajewski survived to the semifinals. Parekh and Yurko delivered decisive performances in the semifinals, each prevailing in straight sets to move into the finals. In an impressive test of wills, Buhlman and Krajewski battled number one seed, Roland Park, splitting sets and coming out on top in the third set to punch their ticket to the finals as well.
The MIAA Championship tournament, held on October 25 at McDonogh School, found Parekh, Yurko, Buhlman and Krajewski all confronting the Eagles on their home court. Parekh was coming off a victory over the previously undefeated Annie Nemoy of McDonogh and fought valiantly in a tight contest that ended 4-6, 5-7 with Parekh taking the silver. Yurko, likewise, faced a familiar opponent in McDonogh’s Leila Khoury. The two sparred for nearly three hours with Yurko chasing down impossible shots but coming up a few games short in a 3-6, 6-2, 4-6 loss to claim the silver as well. On the doubles court, Buhlman and Krajewski also fell 3-6, 2-6. Despite these losses, the team’s fight to claim second place in the A conference overall marked a vast improvement on their rocky season. All silver medalists will return next season, when they hit the courts with their sights set on victory.
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