SHREWSBURY — After a historic run at Amherst Regional, Allison McCann ended her high school tennis career in championship style Saturday afternoon.
McCann beat Ada Wiggins of Burlington 6-1, 6-4 to capture the Division 1 girls individual tennis championship. In other words, she is the best girls tennis player in the entire state of Massachusetts.
“It’s been really exciting,” McCann said. “It was a great season. I’ve always loved high school tennis and my team. It’s a great end to the season for me.”
McCann battled nerves during both her semifinal match and the finals against Wiggins.
“I tried to stay positive,” McCann said. “But I was kind of tight and not swinging through as much as I could. But given the situation, I played well.”
McCann lost last season in the finals, this year she would not be denied. The two years prior, she lost to her sister, Nicole, at the western Massachusetts individual tournament.
“Even when I lost to my sister I had fun,” McCann said. “I didn’t worry about getting to states because I knew she would.”
Gloria McCann watched as a mother and a coach during the tournament.
“She (Allison) pulled it out,” McCann said. “It was tough. She was battling a lot of nerves. It’s a nerve-racking tournament.”
McCann overwhelmed Wiggins with an assortment of shots from different angles in the first set.
She had to fight some adversity in the second set after Wiggins broke her serve in the first game of the set. But McCann’s talent came to the forefront in the end.
McCann will play tennis for Dartmouth in the fall.
Wiggins won her semifinal match against Jillian Winer of Nashoba 6-0, 6-1. Wiggins’ match against Winer was well under an hour.
McCann advanced to the finals earlier in the day against Ashley Avery of Wellesley, a player she is friends with from her time with the USTA.
In the first set of the match against Avery, McCann let Avery get to her dominant forehand repeatedly. McCann ended up losing the set despite leading early.
“I was very nervous at the beginning,” McCann said. “Playing pretty tight. In my head I was kind of freaking out. She was playing well, too.”
McCann established her focus and won the second set in dominant fashion. She went on to beat Avery 5-7, 6-0 and 6-1.
After the set, Avery’s body language became negative. In the third set, unforced errors were her undoing and McCann advanced.
At one point during the match McCann won nine consecutive games including five service breaks of Avery.
“I just had to stay positive,” McCann said. “I started hitting it through and getting it deeper and harder.”
