Rain won’t go away; play to be another day
Published 7:00 pm Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Since the rain, rain wouldn’t go away Monday afternoon, the Falcon girls tennis teams did their best to play in semi damp conditions.
Testing themselves early, the team’s junior varsity and varsity squads took on Sedro-Woolley for home and road openers. The JV girls had the shortest window of playing opportunity, finishing just three matches. The varsity girls, who were at Sedro-Woolley High School, managed to finish four after winning their opener against Anacortes Friday.
Falcon head coach Tom Kramer was cautious with his praise this week, even as his lower-ranked varsity players stepped up to fill some holes last Friday. Without Janelle Iversen, Chelsea Miller and Anna Gilles — all varsity players from last year’s squad — in the lineup, the Falcons still took a 4-3 team victory over Anacortes.
Playing at second singles, sophomore Caitie Newman set the tone for the meet, winning a long 6-1, 6-7, 7-6 match to put her team into the lead. Also winning at singles was Natalie Alexander, taking a 6-3, 6-1 match.
Taking the other two wins were the team’s first and third doubles pairings. Jenny Newman and Amy Vogt were 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 winners on the afternoon, while Marie Enell and Kelly Schorr took their No. 3 match 6-1, 6-4.
Two days later at Sedro-Woolley, the girls did not seem to be playing up to the same level before the rain washed out the afternoon’s matches. First-singles player Sonya Morphew lost her match 1-6, 3-6, while Gilles – back in the lineup — fell by the same score at third singles. The only singles match that showed promise was one played by Caitie Newman, who went up 4-0 in the second set after losing the first 1-6.
The only doubles team to finish a match was the pairing of Jenny Newman and Vogt. They won 1-3, 6-3, 6-1.
Kramer said the two teams would likely make up the matches they lost to the rain when Sedro-Woolley visits South Whidbey on April 16.
For the JV team, the Falcons were almost 3-for-3 in the matches they completed. Top singles player Ariel Schmidtke jump started her sophomore season with a 6-4, single-set victory, while teammate and classmate Morgana Lawlor-White got a victory by the same score in her singles match.
Also playing before the rain was Melissa Mydinski, who was up 3-2 before the courts became too soggy.
The Falcon varsity team stays on the road until April 1, when they come home to celebrate April Fools Day with a meet against Coupeville. The JV team next plays on Wednesday.
