Defeat is first in league play for Cards since spring of 2013
Medical Lake’s girl’s tennis team earned a split in Northeast A League play last week, beating Lakeside 3-2 last Tuesday but losing its showdown match with Chewelah 4-1 Friday.
The Cardinal boys (1-3 NEA), meanwhile, dropped both matches, 5-0 to Lakeside and 4-1 to Chewelah.
The girls (3-1 NEA) earned their deciding set win in Suncrest when Annika Gahan defeated Megan Hord 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 singles. “That’s the second or third time this season that Annika has clinched the team win for us,” head coach Dawn Eliassen said.
Other victories came from Cassidy Hagel and Annette Carlson who won 6-1, 7-6(7-4) in girls’ doubles while Mary Lewan and Katelynn Houger earned a 6-4, 6-0 sweep at No. 2 doubles.
“Hagel and Carlson had a spark going in the first set and coasted along for the second, letting up on certain points,” Eliassen said. “They bounced back and finished extremely strong with some great net play and solid ground strokes.”
In the boys’ portion, Eliassen pointed to the doubles team of Dakota Houger and Alex Neder for their effort despite a 1-6, 0-6 loss.
“Houger and Neder fought hard and played a number of great points at the net against some tough opponents,” she said. “Our guys just couldn’t capitalize on the points we needed and that hurt us in the end.”
At Chewelah, Gahan got the lone victory in No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-3. “Annika continues to collect wins for us at third singles,” Eliassen said. “It’s fun to watch her put strategies into play.”
The boy’s No. 2 doubles team of Austin Brown and Tyler Krivolavy scored a 6-3, 6-7(4-7), 6-2 win. “Other than a bit of a mental let down in the second set, Austin and Tyler controlled this match,” Eliassen said.
The loss at Chewelah this was the first for the ML girls since the beginning of last season.
“All of our matches this season have been close, but we’ve been able to pull out enough individual wins to collect the team win,” Eliassen said. “We’re at the top of the league now, so everyone’s gunning for us a little harder.
The boy’s varsity has struggled this season.
“As a whole we are making some great progress in terms of getting ready for districts,” Eliassen said.
The ML girls were home for matches this week, this past Tuesday versus Freeman and Friday, April 25 at 3:30 p.m. versus Riverside. The boys met Freeman, April 22, will play at Cheney in a non-league match today (Thursday, April 24) at 3:30 p.m. before hosting Riverside Friday, April 25, also at 3:30 p.m..
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
Reader Comments(0)