The Black and White

by Jillian Mastrostefano

On October 16, 2025, the Pilgrim Girl’s tennis team celebrated another year of seniors. With posters, streamers, and the blistering cold, the team recognized four seniors that night, including Victoria Hawkins, Neyela Baptiste, and captains Jillian Mastrostefano and Emilia Koopman. This was the final match of the season, ending with an unfortunate loss against Tiverton, but the defeat was overlooked by the team’s support of one another.  

Prior to the match, seniors walked up to the courts, welcomed with silly string and music. The courts were covered with black and yellow streamers, balloons, and a ‘26 made up of tennis balls stuck in the fence. The seniors were each given posters, new rackets covered in pictures, flowers, and several letters from their teammates. The celebration powered the team through their matches, trying their hardest for the last win of the season.

The players put in all their efforts against Tiverton, trying to achieve one last victory in honor of the seniors. Unfortunately they fell short just 2-5, with wins from singles player Emilia Koopman and doubles players Catherine DeLuca and Julia Louth. Other players also did well, including first singles Kaylie Martell, who played the greatest she has all season, going into a third set with incredibly long rallies and perfect serves. Other singles players Sophie Henner and Victoria Hawkins, along with doubles partners Kharma Mitchell and Scarlette Gagne, also had extremely close matches, playing for what felt like hours. From the singles players was seen impressive stamina and determination, as well as remarkable communication between the doubles. Nobody ever really giving up, despite the freezing temperatures or the skill from the players across their courts. Everyone played extremely well tonight, respectfully fighting a generally even match. 

It’s been a vigorous but unforgettable season, matches one day after the next, suffering from the heat in the beginning to the cold in the end. But as a team the players fought together, enjoying every last moment from team huddles to stretching circles. When asked about the hardest goodbye, senior captain Emilia Koopman said, “One of the hardest things would be saying goodbye to all my teammates because most of them are underclassmen and I got to know them throughout middle school and now high school, so we formed really strong bonds.” The seniors leave their team knowing it’s in good hands and can’t wait to see how they do next year, but also bear the sadness, knowing it means they won’t play on the same courts again.