By ALEX SPONSELLER The Cranston East girls tennis team wrapped up its fall season last week when it hosted Westerly for its senior night festivities at the Park View Middle School courts. Westerly would roll to a 6-1 win over the Lady Bolts.

After reaching the playoffs last season, East struggled for much of the fall as it lost nearly its entire starting lineup from a year ago. The Bolts finished the fall with two wins, including a recent 4-0 victory over North Smithfield.

“They put in a lot of hard work and they gave it their all. In our division, the competition was tough. But we had fun,” said East coach Drew Hochman.

A bright spot for East was No. 1 singles player Mathilda Corcoran. Corcoran spent last season filling in the No. 4 singles position, but was promoted all the way to the top spot this time around due to the roster turnover the team faced.

Although it took some getting used to, Corcoran hit her stride down the stretch and took home a few wins to help keep East afloat.

“Our No. 1 Mathilda did very well. She was asked to go from the No. 4 singles spot up in to the No. 1 spot and faced girls that were really good. Looking back on it, she came through. A lot of it was trying to figure out what she was capable of doing and after the first match that she won, it started to click with her that she could hang with those kids. She bounced back and gave it her all,” said Hochman.

The Bolts are set to lose another large crop of girls to graduation and will be looking to recruit some new talent to help fill out the roster next year. Hochman will miss the seniors on the team and is excited to get back to work in putting the team together.

“It was a fun ride this year and for the girls that are departing, I wish them nothing but the best moving forward,” said Hochman. “It’s going to come down to recruitment and finding girls that want to try out a new sport, that are willing to work hard and want to have fun and compete.”