 Plymouth senior Carrie Edison breezed to a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles last night against Concord junior Andrea Moore. Pilot File Photo/Anthony Gadson By Anthony Gadson Pilot Sports
PLYMOUTH — For the fourth time in a week, the Plymouth Pilgrims girls tennis team swept its competition, the third time that competition was a conference foe.
“We’re just focused on getting better,” Plymouth coach Brad Haeck said, following last night’s 5-0 win over Concord. “We’re seeing some improvement by everyone, in at least one aspect or another.”
Two areas which couldn’t improve much more are at No. 1 singles and doubles. Against Concord, both won 6-0, 6-0, with senior Carrie Edison defeating Andrea Moore and the doubles team of senior Heidi Keiser and freshman Carly Plumlee winning over Amy Kline and Lindsey Downs.
“They’re both playing very well right now,” Haeck said of his two No. 1 areas. “Carrie’s always going to be steady and consistent, and she’ll give us a solid chance to always win at No. 1 singles. Our No. 1 doubles team also played very well today.”
Pilgrims junior Brittany Marquardt didn’t have her smoothest match with Erika Truex, but she still prevailed 6-2, 6-3. At No. 3 singles, Plymouth sophomore Nicole Beguin began her match with Katie Ganczak in a 1-0 hole, but that was the only time she trailed, winning in two sets, 6-2, 6-1.
“We look at it as if we have five No. 1 spots out there, and we need to win three out of every match,” Haeck said of his 5-0, undefeated team. “There isn’t any one spot, or two spots, that are more important than the rest. That is the focus right now. We need to get better at all five spots, because we don’t know which spot is going to go against the strength of another team.”
Against Concord, Plymouth’s Nos. 1, 2, and 3 singles players, as well as the No. 1 doubles team all finished within seconds of each other, approximately an hour after the match began. But at No. 2 doubles, the story was a little different.
Plymouth teammates junior Kristen Holloway and freshman Chelsea Benge didn’t finish their three-set No. 2 doubles win (6-2, 4-6, 6-1) over Rachel Bollero and Kasia Serwatka until all but one junior varsity match remained, which was about an hour-and-a-half after the rest of the varsity finished play. After winning the first set 6-2, and going up 2-1 in the second, the pace came to a crawl as Bollero and Serwatka slowed the play considerably. After each point, the girls would come together to talk it over, stalling the match and obviously frustrating their Plymouth counterparts.
“The other team was maybe playing some mental tricks on them out there,” Haeck said.
After losing the second set 6-4, Holloway and Benge regrouped, winning the third set in convincing fashion, 6-1.
“It was good to see them work through that and be able to get through a little adversity,” Haeck said.
The win at No. 2 doubles left Plymouth with a perfect 5-0 win, making the team 15-0 in individual matches against Northern Lakes Conference opponents, having defeated Warsaw and NorthWood by identical scores last week. That streak will now be put to the test as Plymouth takes on its toughest NLC opponent on Thursday at Elkhart Memorial. But with the way his girls are playing right now, Haeck is feeling optimistic.
“Everything is starting to come together for us as a whole,” he said.
The Elkhart Memorial match will take place at 4:45 p.m., with another tough match at CGA to follow on Saturday at 10 a.m.
• PLYMOUTH 5, CONCORD 0
At Plymouth
Singles: 1. Carrie Edison (P) def. Andrea Moore (C) 6-0, 6-0; 2. Brittany Marquardt (P) def. Erika Truex (C) 6-2, 6-3; 3. Nicole Beguin (P) def. Katie Ganczak (C) 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles: 1. Heidi Keiser-Carly Plumlee (P) def. Amy Kline-Lindsey Downs (C) 6-0, 6-1; 2. Kristen Holloway-Chelsea Benge (P) def. Rachel Bollero-Kasia Serwatka (C) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Records: Plymouth 5-0 (3-0 NLC), Concord 2-4 (1-2 NLC).
JV Score: Plymouth 5, Concord 3. |
