LANGLEY — Falcon tennis players Shannon Craig and Julia Iverson are poised for greatness.
South Whidbey’s top doubles team hasn’t lost a single match since the season began, including wins last week against Bellingham (6-1, 6-1) and Sedro-Woolley (6-0, 6-2).
“They have no major weaknesses,” said Falcon coach Tom Kramer. “They are balanced and work together with a degree of precision that makes it hard for the other team to prey on one or the other.”
The two seniors have been best friends since they were 5 years old.
“We never get mad at each other on the court, so there’s a lot of positive energy that we can channel into our game,” Iversen said.
Craig added that, one match at a time, she and Iversen are committed to doing their best. Their goal is to get to the state finals in May at the University of Washington.
They aren’t perfect, by any means, “I realize I need to be more aggressive at the net,” Craig said.
“And I’m working on a more consistent serve,” chipped in Iversen.
But Kramer counseled that there are a few hurdles to jump over before any titles are claimed.
“Both Sehome and Burlington have tough first doubles teams,” he said. “Shannon and Julia continue to dominate, but they need to maintain the intensity, and I think they know that. At least I hope so.”
On Monday, Craig and Iversen were the only players to bring home a victory as the team lost 6-1 to Bellingham.
“We ran into a solid team with more experience than us, especially in singles,” Kramer said. “We played hard, even well at times, but the scores do not show that.”
Kramer added that the team must get rid of some rust, fix a few mental errors and adjust some tactical decisions.
In singles action against Bellingham, South Whidbey’s Reilly O’Sullivan lost 2-6, 1-6; Alexa Brewster lost 1-6, 1-6; Lena Nichols lost 3-6, 0-6 and Jessica Carey lost 3-6, 2-6.
In doubles, Craig and Iversen won 6-1, 6-1; Katie Holt and Hayley Newman lost 6-7, 6-2 and 3-6; and Teagen Nielsen and Bayley Heggenes lost in three sets, 3-6, 6-3 and 0-6.
Despite the loss, Holt said that working with Newman as a partner is paying off.
“Hayley has a very consistent game, with great ground strokes,” she said. “She does a good job of setting me up so I can put it away at the net.”
Wednesday, the team recovered with a 5-2 win over Sedro-Woolley.
“We bounced back from the loss to Bellingham rather nicely,” Kramer said. “We made some changes from Monday, and had the opportunity to fix a variety of stroke errors for today’s match. Alexa and Jessica both played much more consistent and with purpose, having a plan rather than just getting the ball back.”
O’Sullivan lost 1-6, 2-6, Nichols lost 1-6, 1-6, Brewster won 6-0, 6-2 and Jessica Cary won 6-1, 6-1.
In doubles, Craig and Iversen won 6-0, 6-1, Holt and Newman won 6-0, 6-1 and Nielsen and Heggenes won 6-0, 6-2.
“Katie and Hayley fixed some mistakes from Monday and were able to return to the type of game that we need if we hope for any success in the post-season,” Kramer noted.
“Their play was more thoughtful, and tactically they played better, making the most of opportunities to end the point quickly,” he said.
Jeff VanDerford can be reaches at 221-5300.
