MANCHESTER, NH – Same two teams. Same court. Same final match.
Same result.
For the third-consecutive year, the Derryfield School girls varsity tennis team sits atop the state, defeating an ever-strong Bedford team, 5-4, for the third season in a row to accomplish that feat.
And much like the 2024 and 2025 Division-I championship clashes, this year’s contest – played at Southern New Hampshire University – was tied at four apiece as the result came down to the second doubles court.
There, senior Pola Jankowska and freshman Neha Veeranna were able to pull away late in a back-and-forth match to take the 8-6 win and secure the coveted three-peat for the Cougars.
“I know that court well, and I have my spot, and my heart knows where to go,” said Derryfield head coach Gustavo Moral of now annual tradition of the D-I finale coming down to the second doubles court.
Jankowska, Derryfield’s No. 4 singles player, and No 5 Sarina Punjabi, a junior, also won their singles matches, 9-7 and 8-5, respectively. And on the top court, it was freshman Annie Lin coming from three-points down to take the match and send the contest to doubles knotted at three.
“She’s mentally tough,” said Moral of his standout youngster. “She knew what she had to do … and she secured it.”
Though Punjabi and Marissa Wu fell, 8-2, on the third doubles court, Lin and senior Sofia Koshy captured an 8-1 triumph in No. 1 doubles to make the second court the deciding match.
“Coming into this year, it was a little different because we lost our two seniors from last year, Sophia (Correnti) and Lucy (Yakola), so wiith two new freshmen (on the ladder), we weren’t sure how it was going to be, but we all clicked super well,” said Koshy, who stepped into a captain role this year, along with Jankowska. “Being with this team for so long, we have great chemistry, and I just love all the girls, and we worked hard to get here.”
To reach the state finale, Derryfield had to survive a challenge from Bishop Guertin, the No. 3 seed, on Monday., but pulled out the 5-4 win to setup the annual title tilt with Bedford,.
“(Bedford) beat us in the regular season (5-4 on May 11), so we knew we had to work hard, and certainly we were identical in the regular season at 3-3 … and we were confident with doubles. They’ve been working on doubles and they know how to position themselves and attack the net, and they were able to do that, and to do it against an excellent team like Bedford makes me feel very proud of the accomplishment.”
Having competed in the Division-I championship for five years in a row now – and seven of the last nine – Moral has succeeded with several groups of athletes and, heading into 2027, he said he expects his group to be right back in the mix four a fourth-straight crown.
“It’s the excellence of the players,” he said. “They are the ones who make it happen every year. They come into the season with a commitment, with a thought process that even though, in reality, we’d be a Division-IV school (based on school size), we’re playing in Division I. So they know they have the history, the heritage of good tennis over the years, so it hasn’t been just the last five years, it’s something we’ve been building over time, and I think, certainly, they’re good kids, they’re committed and they want to perform well. And that’s all I ask, is for them to go out there and perform and to do their best, and the outcome will be the outcome, but you cannot lie to yourself when you look in the mirror.”
And though Moral seems to reload each season, he acknowledged the leadership of Koshy and Jankowska was a significant contributing factor in retaining the crown this year.
“They’re opposite in personality, and that’s how their leadership is presented,” said Moral. “Pola is more in your face in a positive way, the one that’s talking, the one who is engaging. Sofia has more of a quiet demeanor, leads by example, but you can feel her commitment, you can feel her emotion, and she transfers that to the team. I’m happy for the four years, I’m happy for them as they move forward, but I will miss them.”
