How CVU, MMU claimed the 2025 girls tennis championships

Thursday, June 12 marked the end of the Vermont high school tennis season with a Division I and II girls doubleheader at Davis Park in Shelburne.

In the Division I championship, No. 1 South Burlington took on No. 2 Champlain Valley with the Redhawks playing on their home courts. It took until the very end to determine a CVU coronation.

Following a dramatic Division I championship, the top two Division II teams vied for the championship with Bea Molson and No. 1 Mount Mansfield cruising to victory.

Sophomore delivers Champlain Valley the championship

Deadlocked at 3-3 in the Division I girls tennis team final, the importance of the fifth singles match grew mightily for Champlain Valley’s Rylee Makay and South Burlington’s Alyona Vulpe.

“Rylee likes to play under pressure and she looked very calm out there,” CVU co-head coach Amy deGroot said. “We felt that if she could just calmly hit the shots that it was going to be all right.”

With everyone from both teams gathered together watching the fifth singles match, Vulpe forced a matchbreaker with a 6-3 victory in the second set. Then Makay, a member of this year’s individual doubles champion, built a 2-1 lead in the matchbreaker and didn’t relinquish it. Makay’s 10-6 victory in the matchbreaker gave No. 2 Champlain Valley the tennis championship with a 4-3 victory over No. 1 South Burlington at Davis Park.

“My coaches never told me about how it was this close for the final match,” Makay said. “I kind of knew based off of the cheers. What helped me just stay calm and collected was knowing that even if I lost we, were the underdogs it would be okay.”

Champlain Valley completes the comeback to win D-I girls tennis championship with Rylee MaKay winning the match breaker #vthstennispic.twitter.com/khFQhLFY5U

— Judith Altneu (@Judith_Altneu) June 12, 2025

As Makay was near the court exit, her teammates ran to her and joined her just inside the court to celebrate.

This is the Redhawks first championship since 2019 despite advancing to the championship for three consecutive seasons. Earning the hardware capped off a dramatic day for Champlain Valley.

Makay started the afternoon watching the other matches until a court opened up, which was a different position for her to be in. Not going out on the court right away turned out to be beneficial for the sophomore.

“Watching some of our best players helped me,” Makay said. “Even through the losses I watched, it just made me feel more confident and knowing that I can win it for them.”

South Burlington won the first two matches before Champlain Valley answered with two victories of their own. The Redhawks first doubles tandem of Chapin Grobbs and Justyna Amblo rallied from trailing 6-0 in the matchbreaker to win 11-9 and junior Sara DiGuglielmo also forced a comeback in the fourth singles match. DiGuglielmo won her tiebreaker 10-7 making the fifth singles match the decider.

In total, five of the seven matches went to three sets in a match that either team could have won, but it was the Redhawks who did the best job at handling the pressure.

“I’m not sure they all knew the situation, but they just handled each tie breaker on their own court and just kept fighting,” co-head coach Heidi Willoughby said.

D-I girls tennis championship

At Davis Park (Shelburne)

No. 2 Champlain Valley 4, No. 1 South Burlington 3

Singles: Rosa DiGiulian, SB def. Anna Dauerman, C 6-3, 6-2; Emma Xia, SB def. Sage Peterson, C 7-6(7-5), 2-6, 11-9; Ariel Toohey, C def. Ella Stein, SB 7-6(7-4), 6-2; Sara DiGuglielmo, C def. Evie Clifford, SB 6-3, 6-7(7-9), 10-7; Rylee MaKay, C def. Alyona Vulpe, SB 6-3, 3-6, 10-6.

Doubles: Chapin Grubbs/Justyna Amblo, C def. Tenzin Choekyi/Laney Lamphier, SB 4-6, 6-4, 11-9; Zoey Ma/Grace Harris, SB def. Stella Rakochy/Ella Trevithick 2-6, 6-4, 10-8.

MMU girls tennis secures three-peat in Division II

Mount Mansfield’s seniors created a bond when they arrived as freshmen. They’ll leave as three-time champions.

The top-seeded Cougars dispatched No. 2 Burr and Burton for a 5-2 victory to claim a Division II title three-peat at Davis Park.

Senior Ava Poehlmann sealed the team title with a three-set comeback victory at No. 4 singles. At that time, that gave MMU a 4-2 lead with just No. 2 doubles still in progress.

“It’s just amazing,” Poehlmann said. “I’m really proud of the fact MMU has been able to foster such an inclusive environment.”

Senior Bea Molson, who captured her second individual title last month, cruised at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Another senior, Estelle First, won at No. 3 singles (6-4, 6-1). Poehlmann lost the first set 2-6 before forcing a matchbreaker with a 6-2 edge in the second set. In the matchbreak, Poehlmann stayed optimistic to win a 10-8 decision.

“I always tell myself, ‘Just one point at a time,'” Poehlmann said.

Poehlmann said the Cougars didn’t put pressure on themselves to chase another championship when the season began in April.

“We were super careful not to talk about that, really at all this season,” Poehlmann said. “I think the focus was, all of us were going to do our best and if a three-peat does come, that’s amazing.”

D-II girls tennis championship results

At Davis Park (Shelburne)

No. 1 Mount Mansfield 5, No. 2 Burr and Burton 2

Singles: Bea Molson, M def. Marina Correa, B 6-2, 6-2; Molly Hershberg, B def. Liliana Carrick, M 6-1, 6-3; Estelle First, M def. Francesca Tully, B 6-4, 6-1; Ava Poehlmann, M def. Lyla Bronstein, B 2-6, 6-2, 10-8; Harper Mait, B def. Blake Loeffler, M 6-4, 6-1.

Doubles: Rosa Ricketson/Juniper Galvani, M def. Lindsey Treat/Anna Farray, B 6-2, 6-0; Lila Bisset/Molly Fitzpatrick, M def. Emma Zinberg/Martha Hutcheson, B 6-0, 6-2

Contact Judith Altneu at jaltneu@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter:@aabrami5.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont high school girls tennis championships: CVU, MMU seize titles