After finishing the regular season with a perfect 18-0 record, the Swampscott High School girls tennis team kept momentum going into Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) state tournament action with a 5-0 victory over Pentucket Regional High School Sunday morning.

The match was originally scheduled for Friday, but the Big Blue had to wait to get postseason play underway because of the weather.

“It felt like just another game,” said Head Coach Emily Cilley. “There’s a little excitement to it. It was great to get here and have the weather be nice and not too hot, so I felt good that the girls would not overheat and play well.”

The team was once again led by the trio of singles players who have demonstrated dominance all season long – Nikki Carr, Ginger Gregoire and Ana Eccles. All three went undefeated in their matchups against league opponents this season. On Sunday, Gregoire and Eccles won their matches 6-0, 6-0 respectively. Carr won her match in the first singles position 6-2, 6-0.

Cilley said she is always confident that the trio gives the team a strong chance to win.

“Even if somebody has a not so great day, or they are challenged harder than normal, I still feel that someone else is going to pull it out,” said Cilley. “I also have several players who can play both singles and doubles. Versatility is very helpful and a lot of them like to play both.”

The two doubles pairings of Lilly Carr and Eve Byrne as well as sisters Ava and Alexia O’Donnell handedly won their matchups on Sunday as well.

“When you can move people around on the court and still feel confident, it’s pretty good,” said Cilley.

With their own matches going on, Big Blue singles players continuously cheered on and complimented their teammates who were competing just yards away.

“You’re on a team but you’re playing by yourself,” said Cilley. “You have to give that to each other in order to pick each other up. The doubles can do it for each other but when you’re on the singles court, complimenting shots from court to court is a nice way to be. And they do it with their opponents also.”

The Big Blue will now move on to face Bishop Fenwick High School on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the Round of 16. The two teams faced off twice in the regular season, with Swampscott winning each match by a score of 3-2.

If there is anything for the 19-0 team to still improve on at this point in the season, Cilley said it’s keeping the energy up.

“I think that a lot of them are running low on steam,” said Cilley. “It’s been a long season. Keeping their energy up and the excitement factor going is good. I’m not super worried about their skills because they haven’t lost those at all this year.”