Lady Squires Win Rain Shortened Match Over Vikings

The Manchester tennis team defeated Huntington North 3-1 in a match halted due to rain to improve to 7-3 on the season.

The Lady Squires would easily take #2 and #3 singles while substitute Alexis Donathan would give great effort against a top #1 player. “Alexa battled to the end. She would take the opening game of the second set and also win a game late when others might just give up.” At 2 singles Halle Briner would give up the second game of the match for a 1-1 tie and then take control the match. “Halle stepped it up against a good player and rattled off 11 straight games. She’s a winner who knows how to construct points.” In 3 singles action Eva Bazzoni would also start 1-1, win 3 for a 4-1 lead and then trade games for a 6-3 opening set. The second set was all Bazzoni as she blanked her opponent 6-0. “Eva was rushing and pressing in the first set. We worked on slowing her tempo, breathing deeper, and strengthening shot focus which cleaned up her errors and actually led to a faster set two win.” The 2 doubles team of Rebekah Pyle and Alyssa Marvel paired up to play inspired tennis. They led 4-1 before letting 2 close games slip away for a 4-3 lead. The duo then won two for the first set and followed it up with another 5 straight for a 5-0 lead. “We were excited for Rebekah and Alyssa to finish 6-1 as the rain began to fall stopping play. These two ladies play great double when they serve well and hit solid service returns. Together they controlled the net.” The final match was at 1 doubles which highlighted excellent play by both teams. At 3-3, Huntington would barely win several long deuce games to go up a set 6-3. Manchester was determined as Halie Wampler and Anna Osborne showed poise and strategy to lead 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 when play was halted.

“Our girls really wanted to finish and force a third set. They loved the competitive play and saw improvement with each game.” “This was a great win against a typically strong Huntington North team (previously 8-1 on the season). They got us last year 3-2 after we had won in both 2016 and 2017.

Due to the weather and match changes, only a limited number of JV players would make the trip with only one one match reaching completion (Roma Kaur winning in singles 6-3).

Manchester varsity is now 7-3 on the season and 4-0 in TRC play. Manchester hopes to host Bluffton on Thursday, weather permitting.