The Manchester tennis team finished 5th at the Warsaw Invite Saturday.

Teams: Munster (ranked #3), Homestead (ranked #9), Penn (ranked #17), Fishers, Manchester, Valparaiso, Warsaw, Elkhart Memorial

RESULTS:
1st- Munster 20 points (won #1 singles & #2 doubles)- missing #2 singles player
1st- Penn 20 points (won #2 & #3 singles)
3rd- Homestead 17 points (won #1 doubles)
4th- Fishers 14 points
5th- Manchester 8 points (missing one #1 doubles player)
5th- Valparaiso 8 points
7th- Warsaw 5 points
8th-Elkhart Memorial 3 points

Manchester results by position:

1 singles- Kelsey Eichenauer (12)

Round 1 L vs. Homestead 3-6,1-6 (Two hour match featuring most games going to multiple deuces. Opening set tied 3-3.)
Round 2 L vs. Penn 2-8 (Eichenauer led 2-1.)
Round 3 W vs. Elkhart Memorial 8-6 (rallied from down 5-6 to close out a 90 minute set)

2 singles- Halle Briner (10)

Round 1 W vs. Warsaw 6-1.6-1 (Masterful placement of shots and control of points.)
Round 2 L vs. Fishers 3-6, 2-6 (Gritty determination against a solid player.)
Round 3 L vs. Homestead 3-6,4-6 (Long 2 hour match with Briner narrowly missing a few shots near the end of each set to make the slight difference in defeat.)

3 singles- Eva Bazzoni (10)

Round 1 W vs. Valparaiso 2–6, 6-4, (10-4) (Eva really turned the momentum after figuring out a winning strategy to win in a super tiebreaker.)
Round 2 L vs. Penn 2-6, 1-6 (Ran into a consistent slice/chop hitter.)
Round 3 W vs. Munster 5-7,6-4 (11-9) (Showed great determination to stave off exhaustion and a consistent opponent in 2 hours by barely winning a 10 point tie breaker.) Ended in 3rd place.

1 doubles- Anna Osborne (12) w/ Alexa Donathan (10) bc (Halie Wampler [12] ill)

Round 1 L vs. Munster 0-6,0-6 (played competitive points against a very strong team)
Round 2 L vs. Valparaiso 2-8 (got off to a slow start but never gave up playing hard)
Round 3 Anna Osborne w/ Morgan Stroud (12) L vs. Warsaw 3-8 (again competed well but lost close games.)

2 doubles- Rebekah Pyle (11) & Alyssa Marvel (9)

Round 1 W vs. Elkhart Memorial 7-5,6-1 (After making strategy adjustments at end of close first set, Pyle & Marvel gained momentum with shot placement and good serves.)
Round 2 L vs. Fishers 1-6,1-6 (great effort against eventual 2 dub runner ups.)
Round 3 L vs. Penn 0-6,0-6 (outmatched against a state ranked team)

Coaches Comments:
“I was extremely impressed with our whole team’s approach and performance today. We definitely showed that we belonged in this tournament of ranked and other top 50 teams. I was most proud of the way we played hard despite fatigue. We persevered today and showed mental toughness against some of the best talent in the state. I look forward to seeing how we take what we learned from today to keep improving this season.” -Joel Eichenauer