BROWNSTOWN
Brownstown Central came up with straight-set wins at No. 3 singles and both doubles matches to defeat Trinity Lutheran 4-1 in varsity girls’ tennis on the Braves’ courts Tuesday afternoon.
Miranda McCluskey put the first point on the board for the Braves with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Abby Schult at No. 3 singles.
“Miranda played really well as far as making the other player run,” Braves coach Erik Stangland said. “We needed a win tonight and we finally got one. It’s going to be tough playing Seymour and Silver Creek back-to-back the rest of the week, but at least we got a win here, and maybe we can get a little confidence.
“We’re struggling with our form and a lot of fundamentals, but we’re gutting-out matches.”
Courtney Barker evened up the match for the Cougars with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Claudia Sibrel at No. 2 singles.
“Courtney played consistent all match long, and didn’t make as many mistakes as her opponent did,” Cougars coach Mark Voss said.
“That is basically what got her the win tonight. She stayed focused and hit the ball the way she needs to hit the ball.”
The Braves’ next two points came in doubles where Jordan Trowbridge and Bridget Hall topped Olivia Benter and Lauren Voss 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1, and Sydney Cockerham and Maddy Jones were 6-4, 8-6 winners against Leah Stuckwisch and Kelly Adams.
Stangland said his doubles teams played well at times.
“No. 1 doubles had trouble finishing points,” he siad. “They had a lot of hard shots.
“No. 2 doubles just hit a few more strokes than the other team. We played so evenly. If we’d get our strokes down it would really help. When you let somebody stay in you get tried because you played too many shots. That makes it rough.”
Brownstown’s Laken Reynolds and Trinity’s Aurora Willman spent the most time on the court, with the Braves’ sophomore winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 singles.
Stangland said this is the second straight year Reynolds and Willman have played.
“Last year Reynolds won 6-3, 6-2, and this year she has to go three sets,” Stangland said. “That tells you it is not the same kind of a match.”
Coach Voss said he felt the Cougars (2-5) put up good efforts.
“I’m really proud of the way all the girls played,” he said. “Win or lose, they all battled. We were in virtually every match across the board. No. 3 singles was a little dicey, and got away from us quick.
“No. 1 singles went three sets, one and two doubles went down to the wire in the second set. We had a chance to turn the tables there but we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
The Braves will take a 2-4 record to Seymour on Thursday and Trinity’s next match will be Monday at Shawe Memorial.