The HHS girls tennis team was closing in on a state tournament berth in late May. PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

The Hopkinton High School girls tennis program is back in Division 1 this year, but the move has not slowed the Hillers’ success in the slightest. Hopkinton posted a double-digit win total in both the Tri-Valley League and overall.

“They are all very coachable tennis players, and they are very supportive of each other and push each other to do better,” said coach Lyn Calkins. “Both in practice and during matches, they hold each other accountable on and off the court.”

Hopkinton has benefited from having a great deal of consistency in its lineup relative to last year. Sophomore May Chen returned and is the top singles player in the lineup. She had posted a 10-5 record heading into the final two regular-season matches.

Junior Avery Michaud, a doubles player last spring, improved enough to earn a nod as the No. 2 singles player.

“She worked her way up in the lineup,” Calkins said. “It has been a little bit of an adjustment playing singles, but she is a backboard. She has come up big for us in a lot of matches.”

Senior co-captain Roma Tewari plays third singles and also won more than a dozen matches this spring.

“She is a solid, reliable player for us,” Calkins said.

Evanya Mathur, another senior co-captain, returned at first doubles alongside junior Aarushi Kamra. In part due to some injuries and illnesses over the course of the year, Hopkinton has settled on the second doubles tandem of junior Caitlin Mangan and freshman Charlotte Nadeau.

“They have excellent team chemistry and have had to fight through some tough matches together,” Calkins said.

Overall, the results have been solid for the program. Calkins reached a milestone when a win in a May 6 match at Holliston gave her 100 victories in her Hopkinton career.

Calkins said the Hillers accomplished one goal by putting themselves in the mix for the TVL title and a spot in the state tournament. The coach said that Hopkinton set a goal of advancing into the second round of the playoffs. To do so will require the Hillers to do what they have generally done all year, pick up one another.

“When someone is having a bad day, it just seems like another person or a doubles team shows up big and helps carry the team that day,” Calkins said. “We are pretty deep in that way.”

Added the coach: “There is a really solid team bond. The girls have had a lot of good off-court team bonding activities, and they are all really looking out for each other.”