The Pilot News - Lady Lions fall a set short

“That’s one thing that I said about midway through that last set is make sure you guys are getting up there and getting some balls at the net,” said Bremen girls tennis coach Andrew Rhode. “We just kind of, we move but we’re not getting anything at the net. We just kind of hang back and that hurts us, and Rochester was a lot more aggressive at the net. They got some of those shots at the net and put them away, and we just didn’t do that.”
“I think both teams, both Bremen and us played a really good game,” said Burton. “I think they were the toughest people we’ve played all season, so I’ll give them that.”
Bremen drew first blood Thursday, taking a two-match lead with rapid wins in Nos. 1 and 2 singles.
Lions No. 1 Brittney Anglin defeated Rochester’s Ryan Burkett 6-1, 6-2 for Bremen’s first win of the day. Anglin’s serve overpowered Burkett as the Rochester junior struggled all evening to break it, and her top-spin finished her off as Burkett laid back to receive Anglin’s power shots and came up short running toward her low, dribbling forehands.
“My serve is probably one of the strongest points I have in my game, and I just used that to my advantage tonight,” said Anglin. “I just used that against her, and it ended up working.
“My dad and I have especially been working on my forehand this year and trying to get that down so it’s a little bit stronger. I’m working on that.”
In fact, there wasn’t much about Anglin’s game that didn’t look strong at the Rochester match.
“Her serve is great, her ground strokes are good, and she can play at the net,” said Rhode of his number one. “She really does have a very good all-around game, and she’s a good athlete on top of it.
“Her forehand has come a long way. Her more consistent shot she’ll say is her back stroke,” he added. “I disagree with her. I like her forehand better still. She’s that all-around player where it’s definitely not a weakness, it’s a “weaker” part of her game. Which is nice to have on the team.”
The Lions followed up with another dominant victory in the No. 2 singles match, as Taylor Hueni beat Lorina Nemo 6-0, 6-1.
On court two, Hueni’s style of play contrasted sharply with Anglin’s on court one, but it proved equally effective Tuesday. Rather than hitting for power, she used a methodical, shot placement-based approach that kept her opponent guessing and ultimately produced the two-set win. Another point of contrast, was that, while Anglin employed the slice to beat her opponent, Hueni relied on the chip shot, forcing her opponent to rush then net, then volleying into the backcourt before Nemo could backpedal.
“That’s one of her biggest strengths is her backspin,” said Rhode. “That’s something that Anglin doesn’t have a whole lot of, but Taylor Hueni can really hit those shots. She’s just a great player. They’re very different players. They’re great players, but they’re different. “(Hueni) is very smart, she knows where her opponent is at, she knows what is going to set up the point for her. She’s not one that is going to overpower you, but she’s going to hit it where you’re not and win that way. She’s very smart when it comes to that.”
“I think I played well today compared to what I have been in the past. Shot placement was good,” said Hueni. “I mean, she was definitely moving her feet, but I think, yeah, my placement tonight was really helping out my game. I know when people use ball placement against me I make errors, unforced errors, so I think that may have been a part of it.”
Hueni and Anglin are Bremen’s only two returning full-time varsity players from last season, and they recorded the Lions only two wins Tuesday. Britney Bollenbach-er played competitively on court three but lost in two sets of 6-3 to Zebra No. 3 singles player Corrine Heller.
“Britney plays very well, she can really hit the ball. She needs to work on being able to hit the ball short” Rhode said. “She can really nail the ball. We’ve always really thought of her as a doubles player, but we tried her out at singles last year and we’ve tried her out even more so there this year, and she’s done very well for us in that singles spot, so we’re pretty happy.”
Both doubles matches came down to three sets, and like their No. 1 counterparts, Alicia Kiefer and Taylor Als at No. 2 lost the first set and scored a comeback victory in the second set before losing to Rochester’s Sarah Callahan and Jessica Peter 6-0 in the final set.
Rhode said he was surprised more than anything to see that after a second-set victory, his No. 2 doubles team was unable to secure a single win in the second set.
“I’m just kind of surprised that we didn’t get anything in that final set,” he said. “We had the momentum going in the second set, and we just didn’t pull it out, and I’m really, really surprised that we didn’t get anything. I’m just in shock, I guess.”
With Thursday’s tough loss now behind them, Bremen must prepare to travel to South Bend Riley for another non-conference match Saturday. The Lady Wildcats took a 3-2 win over the Zebras earlier this season, and with Thursday’s results so close, the match should be another competitive one for the Lions.
“This one is a heartbreak because I really felt that we could have won any of those three matches that we lost,” said Rhode. “But you’ve got to give Rochester a lot of credit because they could have won any of those three matches and they did. You’ve got to give them credit for going out and winning matches. This one is a rough one for me. It kind of hurts, but we’ve got to get back to practice tomorrow, and we’ve got another match on Saturday, so it’s back to the grindstone.
• ROCHESTER 3,
BREMEN 2
At Bremen
SINGLES: 1. Brittney Anglin (B) beat Ryan Burkett (R) 6-1, 6-2; 2. Taylor Hueni (B) beat Lorina Nemo (R) 6-0, 6-1; 3. Corrine Heller (R) beat Britney Bollenbacher (B) 6-3, 6-3.
DOUBLES: 1. Abby Burton and Amanda Lease (R) beat Laura McIntyre and Abbey Huff (B) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2; 2. Sarah Callahan and Jessica Peter (R) beat Alicia Kiefer and Taylor Als (B) 6-2, 3-6, 6-0.
Records: Rochester 4-3, Bremen 7-2.