Published: October 20, 2025
USM’s women’s tennis team makes it to the Little East Conference Tournament Quarterfinal for the first time in over ten years. At their senior match on Oct. 11, the Huskies took on the Vermont State University Castleton Spartans, fighting their way to a 5-2 win. USM’s first and second doubles teams secured the overall doubles point, with senior Abby Emerson and sophomore Alyssa Conley winning 6-1 and fifth-year senior Hanni Johnson and freshman Payton Thibodeau winning 6-3. The Huskies received an additional point as the Spartans had to default in the third doubles match. As usual, Emerson and Conley’s talents made for an exciting match. The partners have had a great season, ending the regular season with a doubles record of 7-1. Senior Muriel Lattin won her singles match, earning her sixth win of the season, defeating Caslteson’s Olivia Rutkowski 6-0, 6-3.
Emerson earned herself another impressive win at first singles, defeating Stella Forte 6-1,6-1. Johnson played a grueling singles match against Castleton’s Ginevra Trevisan. It was anyone’s match as the girls ended both sets with a tiebreaker. Ginevra managed to fight her way through, securing both tiebreakers 7-4 and 10-8. The Huskies also received an additional point in sixth singles as Castleton forfeited.
The team and head coach Eric Haase went all out for seniors Muriel Lattin, Hanni Johnson, Abby Emerson, and Madison Viveiros with posters, cupcakes, and gift bags containing tennis-themed goodies. Lattin has been playing tennis since freshman year of high school at Winthrop High School. She was excited to continue playing in college and joined the USM women’s tennis team her freshman year. This year is Johnson’s first on the USM tennis team, but she has been a Husky athlete for much longer. Johnson played four years of field hockey with impressive stats, including playing in 12 full 60-minute games in the 2024 season. Johnson played both field hockey and tennis at Spruce Mountain High School.
The senior match was bittersweet for Emerson as she attended Gorham High School, where the Huskies play their home matches. “I played throughout middle school and high school, and now at USM. I’ve been playing on these courts since I was ten.” Emerson hopes to continue having tennis in her life after graduation, planning on taking a gap year to work at Apex Racket and Fitness full-time, and even mentioned plans to coach high school tennis.
Catch the USM Women’s Tennis quarterfinal on Oct. 21. Visit the southernmainehuskies.com for information about time and location as it becomes available.
