Tennis girls finally get court date
The Bluejay girls finally fit a couple of matches in between the raindrops last Thursday.
Merrill rolled the Phillips Loggers 7-0 in the opener and prevailed 4-3 in the closer with Lakeland.
Versus the T-Birds, wins came from Moonen (6-1, 6-1), Raleigh (6-3, 6-2), Alli Pregeb/Grace Huftel (6-1, 6-3) and Alissa Brewer/Cassandra Plachetka (6-4, 6-2). Bayer (7-5, 6-1), Nelson (6-4, 6-6 [7-4]) and Purmal/Sutton 6-4, 6-2) fell.
Against Phillips, the singles sweep came from Rachel Bayer (6-0, 6-0), Frances Moonen (4-6, 6-1 [10-5]), Michaela Raleigh (6-0, 6-0) and Katie Nelson (6-0, 6-0) and doubles win from Kayla Sutton/Katie Purmal (6-2, 2-6 [10-5]), Donna Sczygelski, Katie Tomalak (6-2, 6-0) and Cate Murray/Allison Winter-Reed (6-0, 6-0) backed it up.
“It was great to get back on the courts in competition after having our last eight matches canceled because of rain,” MHS coach Janet Thompson said. “We were able to get right back into the swing of things against Phillips in the first match. Frances had a bit of a battle on her hands, but all of our other singles players won without letting their opponents get a game. Our doubles play was also strong. Katie and Kayla were even down in the tiebreak 1-5. They stayed mentally tough, though, and came back to win 10-5.
“Lakeland proved to be a closer match for us. Frances and Michaela continued their winning ways. They both have improved their serving and it has brought their games to a higher level. Kayla and Katie played well, but came up short against a very experienced Lakeland #1 doubles team. Grace and Alli were dominant in their win. Even this early in the season, I really like how they communicate and work together as partners. Cassy and Alissa had some especially strong net play in their match.”