By ALEX SPONSELLER The Pilgrim girls tennis team is coming off back-to-back playoff appearances and has its sights set on a championship in 2020.

The road to the title got off to a strong start last weekend, as the Lady Pats traveled to West Warwick and cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Wizards to jump out to a 1-0 record.

Pilgrim would complete the 4-0 sweep in singles action, led by senior Jenna Gustafson who won her match 6-0, 6-1. Alana Resendes took home a 6-3, 6-1 singles win followed by Abigail Vest who won 6-4, 6-3, and Kaleigh Catucci who won 6-1, 6-1.

Pilgrim’s top doubles pair of Mia Gustafson and Abigail Ricci took home a 6-0, 6-7, 6-2 victory, while the third pairing of Madelyn Narcavage and Madison Boscia won 6-3, 6-3. Pilgrim’s second doubles pair of Isabella De Melo and Jennifer Saab fell 4-6, 1-6.

“It was really good to start off with a win, it kept us confident in our next matches. We stayed calm, some of us were nervous at the beginning because it was our first match, but we did good. It’s been the same, we have a few new people and that has really helped us. We hope to have playoffs even with the pandemic, we don’t know the answer yet but we hope,” said Jenna Gustafson, who is one of two team captains this year. “We obviously want to make it as far as we can, we have a few new players that are really adding to the chemistry of this team, we all get along and we are really hoping to make it all the way this year. I try to (be a leader) as one of the senior captains. We try to lead by example, help the team out when they need it.”

Jenna Gustafson is excited to be able to compete during her final season and hopes the team will play hard for one another and make a deep run.

“I’m hoping to get all the team wins that we can and to help out the team as much as I can. We have practice every day which helps, we play a lot of matches, we bond a lot as a team, cheer each other on. That helps our confidence and helps our team,” said Gustafson. “I’m just really excited to be able to play this year. We weren’t sure if we would have a season this year but now we do, so even though it is shortened, I am happy to have my last season and we hope to win a championship because we have a really good team this year.”