PAWTUCKET – In the end, it was no contest.
Mount St. Charles stormed to its second straight Division I team championship on Sunday afternoon at Slater Park, rolling to a 4-0 victory over Lincoln School in a competition that took less than two hours to complete.
The Mounties, seeded third in the tournament, were methodical and consistent in their approach, never losing a set while knocking off the Division I-North regular season champions.
“We just kept improving,” No. 1 singles player Taylor McEldowney, a Cumberland resident, said after the state championship had been secured. “We really worked hard in practice and kept our focus. I think what happened to us is that we began to get together as a unit, as a team, and with that kind of support system we were able to accomplish our goals.”
McEldowney put the first team point on the board with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Asha Tipireni. Meanwhile, No. 3 singles player Allie Lawrence was finishing off Lincoln School’s Kirsti Toegemann, who had been undefeated in the league season and owned two victories over the Mounties’ senior standout.
“I didn’t do anything different,” Lawrence said while packing her gear following a 6-4, 6-2 win over Toegemann. “I just kept it consistent and tried to hit the ball over the net one more time than she did.”
It’s hard to argue with that kind of logic.
Mount’s No. 1 doubles team of Alyssa Marciniak and Meghan Lydon put the third team point on the scoreboard, disposing of their opponents in straight set scores of 6-4, 6-2.  The state championship now rested in the secure hands of Meryl Lawrence, a MSC sophomore playing at No. 2 singles.
Lawrence is undefeated in league play this season and played true to her form, knocking off Kara Hole in a tough two-setter, 7-6 (8-6) and 6-4.
Mount has now won five state team titles over the past seven years under the able guidance of head coach Richard Lawrence. The coach is blessed with a group of players who pull together every autumn and put the team title above all other considerations in a sport that is weighted towards individualism once the ball goes up in the air.
McEldowney, relishing this second straight championship, spoke of its meaning to her.
“I think this one was more difficult than last year,” she said. “We lost two matches early in the season. We really had to push ourselves to get back to where we wanted to be.”
And while the Mounties only needed four matches to win the state title on Sunday, the championship came about through a total team effort. Bianca Sciotti was winning her No. 4 singles match when play was suspended following the clinching team point. The doubles teams of Caitlin Kline-Mekala Bertocci and Laura Calcagni-Grace Morton were also doing their jobs away from the glare of the spotlight on the singles courts.