Friends' Central's girls' tennis won the FSL championship on Friday, October 28.

As the team celebrated its hard-fought 3-2 win over visiting George School, it was clear that high school tennis is truly a team sport. A competition consisting of three singles and two doubles gives opportunities for different players to step up and help their team earn a victory. That has certainly been the case for Friends' Central, who entered the event with a perfect league record.

Having faced a tough George School squad earlier in the year, Friends' Central knew today would be a challenge with the league title on the line.

Trailing 2-0 following victories for George School and No. 1 singles and No. 2 singles, the Phoenix began chipping away, with Allie Whellan '23 notching a straight-set win to slice the deficit to 2-1, the No. 2 doubles team Lauren Coss '23 and Lindsay McCammon '23 registered a straight-set win of their own to level the match setting up the dramatic finish.

With the No. 1 doubles team of Grace Schlegel '24 and Maddy Jackson '26 dropping the first set, things did not initially look good for the hosts. However, as the duo has done recently, they dug deep and won the second set to even the match at 1 set all, setting up a third set that would decide the league title.

With daylight fading fast, Grace and Maddy raced out to a 4-1 lead only to see their opponents win back-to-back games to trim the lead to 4-3, finished with a break of service by the visitors. However, Grace and Maddy broke right back, pushing the lead to 5-3.

With Maddy serving, she and Grace came up with timely volleys to win the game and earn a 6-3 win in the third set, giving the hosts a come-from-behind win and the first league title since 2016 for Friends' Central.

- Ed Levin