LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield High has had its share of girls and boys tennis standouts over the years, many of whom played year round from a young age in order to hone their skills and get to the top level.

Four-year varsity team member and two-year captain Lily Alves wasn’t one of the early ones.

When Alves arrived at the high school as a freshman, her only exposure to the sport was a week-long summer group clinic conducted by Pioneers’ coach Craig Stone. She had suffered a concussion playing youth field hockey and was limited to non-contact sports, so she signed up for the session after being urged by middle school friends there was an open slot.

She showed up without a racquet and had to borrow one from Stone.

“I took eight group lessons the summer before my freshman year and only signed up because I was in a friend group and they needed another player to fill out the group,” Alves said. “I thought, why not?”

She tried out for the high school team the following spring. Despite having zero competitive experience, Alves quickly climbed the ladder. She started at second doubles and finished the year at first doubles. She moved up to second singles as a sophomore and earned Cape Ann League All-Star honors the following year as a junior.

Alves moved up to first singles her senior year, replacing four-year starter Paige Martino, the 2025 CAL Kinney Division Player of the Year.

Alves said she got off to a less-than-ideal start.

“I knew Paige was gone and had a feeling that I would be bumped up if I won my challenges,” she said. “I was definitely more nervous at the beginning of the year and was playing defensively, but coach told me I was there for a reason. He is never a quitter and always so positive. He will always have you holding your head high. Tennis is a very singular game even in doubles, but coach Stone has a knack for flipping your mindset from questioning your ability to believing.”

Alves had a breakout senior season, finishing with an 18-3 record and earning CAL Kinney Division Player of the Year honors in just her first year in the position. She finished her Pioneers’ career as a multiple award winner and ranked No. 4 on the Hall of Fame Top 50 list with a record of 67-14. Along the way, she won two Contributed Most awards, two Most Improved awards, and two Outstanding Achievement awards.

Stone said Alves’ commitment to his T.E.A.M (Together Everyone Achieves More) first mantra has always been front and center.

“She has 65 individual career wins, but none of those were important if the team did not win,” Stone said. “Lily only knows how to give 100 percent and is a constant role model for her teammates both on and off the court.”

Alves hopes to continue her meteoric rise to the top at Saint Anselm College as a walk-on.

“I had planned to play at Colby-Sawyer and then did a tour at Saint Anselm and fell in love with it,” Alves said. “I wasn’t even thinking about playing there because it was Division 2 and I knew, as a nursing major, doing clinicals would be impossible, but once I learned Saint Anselm was going D3, I thought, why not try to walk on?”

Alves, a four-year varsity member and two-year captain of the field hockey team, also considered Salve Regina and Simmons. Winner of the inaugural Christine M. Shiels Nursing Scholarship, she hopes to work as a pediatric nurse and eventually go to medical school.

An honor roll student, carrying three AP courses, Alves believes the lessons she learned playing sports at Lynnfield High have paved the way for success.

“It’s been so much fun to play at Lynnfield. I’ve made some of my best friends through sports,” she said. “Sports teaches life lessons and how you can help others, especially when you’re a captain and you have to know the right and wrong ways to do things.”

Alves plans to work on her game — especially her backhand — this summer, under Stone’s tutelage.

“I’ll be taking two lessons a week. I cannot hit a backhand down the line and always go cross court, which opponents always figure out,” she said. “I feel my strength isn’t so much being aggressive, but it’s about changing the pace of the ball. You cannot be afraid to go for winners when the point is there for the taking. You can play defense for a while, but, for me, you have to be able to go for it when the shot is there.”

Stone said he has never seen anything like Alves in his 45 years coaching the program.

“Never have I seen a player like her, who came into the program without some form of previous playing experience,” he said. “When she first showed up, I saw an exceptional athlete with both intensity and the propensity to be an impact player. I never realized how much of an impact she would make.”