Manchester Tennis Wins At Columbia City
Manchester tennis opened the 2023 season with an impressive victory on the road Wednesday night defeating Columbia City 4-1 in varsity play and 8-1 in JV action.
Sarah Kerlin gave up just one game in each set enroute to a #1 singles victory, 6-1,6-1. Sarah used her mix of shot making and strategy to control the match. Freshman Myla Crozier starred at #2 singles with a strong 6-0,6-0 performance while her freshman teammate Bethany Penrod notched her first varsity win at 3 singles 6-1,6-2. Both Crozier & Penrod have bright futures in tennis ahead. The fourth team point came from senior Delani Henderson and her freshman partner Kate Schroll winning without giving up a game, 6-0,6-0. Delani showed off her leadership and offseason improvements while Kate exhibited natural talent and confident play. The final match was a narrow loss at #1 doubles. Carleigh Blevins and Addison Brubaker rallied from an early deficit to win set one 7-5 but dropped set two 4-6. In set three the play was strong with each team holding serve through 9 games. Up 5-4 Manchester had one match point that slipped away and Columbia City came back to break Manchester’s serve and win the next two games for a 5-7 loss. Overall the Lady Squires performed well and showed they will be a contender in the TRC and sectional play. Manchester’s JV won 8 of 9 matches demonstrating the team’s depth and many talented players. Coach Eichenauer remarked, “This off season was the best our program has ever had in terms of numbers of players working to improve their game. It was fun to see so many putting in extra time, encouraging others to play, and having fun playing this game.” The Lady
Squires’ team of 27 players is the largest in recent memory.
The previous night, Manchester sent its JV squad to face Fort Wayne Wayne’s varsity and JV squad. While 4 of the top 5 spots went Wayne’s way, Manchester won 6 of the remaining 7 matches for an overall 7 wins to 5 losses score. Winning against Wayne’s varsity #1 doubles team was Katie Jenkins & Ella Bradley. Arya Norton showed great effort in a 2 1/2 hour match losing a close 3 setter.
Manchester travels to Wabash Thursday to open TRC play. Then on Saturday they join in the highly competitive Warsaw Invitational with powerhouse teams Penn, Munster, Valparaiso, Angola, Adams Central and host Warsaw.
MANCHESTER VS. Columbia City WINNER SCORE
VARSITY SINGLES
1 Sarah Kerlin (11) vs. Olivia More (9) Man 6-1, 6-1
2 Myla Crozier (9) vs. Allyson Schmit (11) Man 6-0, 6-0
3 Bethany Penrod (9) vs. Alina Houser (11) Man 6-1, 6-2
VARSITY DOUBLES
1 Carleigh Blevins (11) vs. Lindsay Taylor (11) CC 7-5, 4-6, 5-7
Addison Brubaker (10) Breanna Taylor (11)
2 Delani Henderson (12) vs. Sofia Tardon (10) Man 6-0, 6-0
Kate Schroll (9) Jada Bower (10)
RESULT: Win 4-1
RECORD: 1-0
JUNIOR VARSITY SINGLES
1 Ava Baker (10) vs. Regan Oldfather Man 8-3
2 Chase Blevins (9) vs. Lilli Joseph Man 8-6
3 Lexi Nichols (9) vs. Kaitlyn Cuason Man 8-3
4 Haley Betten (10) vs. Leslie Sims Man 8-2
5 Marley Bellinger (10) vs. Kindra Hunter Man 8-1
JUNIOR VARSITY DOUBLES
1 Alexa Weaver (11) vs. Bailey Patton (9) Man 8-1
Arya Norton (12) Lucy Larue (9)
2 Sophia Anglin (10) vs. Cece Noonon (9) Man 8-2
Maggie Onderko-White (9) Addison Tachet (10)
3 Emily Manns (12) vs. Lilli Joseph Man 8-6
Carrie Hoffmeyer (11) Bailey Patton (9)
4 Audrey Sanson (10) vs. Cece Noonon(9) CC 2-8
MaKayla Marcum (9) Addison Tachet(10)
RESULT: Win 8-1
RECORD: 2-0
Manchester vs Manchester
Katie Jenkins (10) vs. Hailey Krom (11) Krom 6-3, 6-1
Ella Bradley (10) Joshua Steely (11)
Citlali Quiroz-Alverez (10) vs. Isabelle Anguilm(11) Q-A&N 6-1
Lexie Nichols (9) Lilli Meyer (11Ex)
