Smiles for the second-place team photo masked disappointment for the top-seed Potomac School Panthers girls tennis team.
The Panthers lost on their home court in the championship match of the Division I state private-school tournament to No. 2 seed and defending champion Collegiate School of Richmond, 5-3.
During the regular season, Potomac School had defeated Collegiate, 5-2, making the sting of the state loss that much more.
“Our players were confident entering the match, so it was a bitter end,” Potomac School coach Chris Caskin said.
Prior to the state tourney, the Panthers (15-3 overall record) lost in the championship match of the Independent School League AA Division tourney to top seed Sidwell Friends, by another close 4-3 score. Potomac School was seeded second.
“Both were so close. They were two heartbreaking losses that could have gone either way,” Caskin said. “Everything flipped in the state final against Collegiate from that regular-season match. The players were very disappointed.”
Potomac School, which was ranked No. 1 in the Division I state poll pretty much all season this fall, also lost to Collegiate in the 2021 and 2022 state finals and in the semifinals of the 2023 tournament. The Panthers last won the state in 2019, the same season they last took the ISL crown.
Sidwell has defeated Potomac School in the semifinals or finals in recent years, as well.
“Those teams have become our rivals,” Caskin said.
In this year’s state final, Collegiate led 2-1 after the close doubles matches, which were played first. Collegiate won the No. 3 doubles match 9-8 in a tiebreaker. That momentum carried into the singles matches.
Top singles players for Potomac School were junior Riley Williams at No. 1, junior Riece Grimes-Thomas at No. 2, sophomore Taylor Shen at three, freshman Lara Sabin at four, freshman Anya Sachdeva at five and senior Anaahita Kaashyap at six. They also played doubles in the state tourney along with senior Sonali Sachdeva. Other players were seniors Aryana Cayton, Deja Dimps, Maren McLucas, Audrina Mafi and Catherine Forster; junior Maria Lerner; and freshman Sejal Satoskar.
Potomac School was 2-1 in the state tournament, defeating No. 8 seed Norfolk Catholic, 5-1, in the first round, then fourth seed St. Catherine’s, 5-0, in the semifinals.
In the ISL tournament, Potomac School blanked No. 7 seed Maret, 7-0, in the first round, then edged third-seed Holton-Arms, 4-3, in the semifinals.
“This was a team that got better as the season went on,” Caskin said. “They were dominant at times.”
