With one of the state’s top singles players and doubles teams coming to town, the Trinity Lutheran girls tennis team knew they had a tough test ahead of them.
Christian Academy, ranked No. 8 for District 8, proved the Cougars right as it defeated Trinity 5-0 on Friday.
The closest match on the day proved No. 2 singles, as sophomore Courtney Barker battled back to almost force a third set against the Warriors’ Meghan Hunt.
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After dropping the first set 6-3, Barker found herself in a 3-0 hole in the second.
Barker closed the gap at 4-4 with a hold on her serve.
Despite the extra effort, Hunt pulled away to take the set at 6-4.
“(Barker) doesn’t get out of the gate very quick, it seems like that she likes to play the longest,” Cougars coach Mark Voss said. “I kind of razz her a bit for that, but she comes alive in the second set. She has been fortunate to get a few of them and force a third set this season.”
At No. 1 singles, CAI’s Lauren Winchell, who became the first player in program history to reach the IHSAA individual singles state finals in 2015, defeated Cougars senior Aurora Willman 6-0, 6-0.
Trinity senior Kelly Adams fell to Maddie Brown 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.
The powerhouse duo of Brittany Moffett and Danielle Summit downed the Cougars’ Olivia Benter and Abby Schult 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
In the No. 2 doubles spot, the Warriors’ Amy Leffler and Julia Lostetter defeated Leah Stuckwisch and Macey Prewitt 6-1, 6-0.
“One of the main things I was looking for tonight was a little more confidence,” Voss said. “We were up against a very good team. I wanted to see us hit the ball well and not make a lot of mistakes. For the most part, that’s what happened. We went down 5-0, but (CAI) deserves the credit — they won those points.”
Voss said that he switched up his lineup at the beginning of this past week.
“We have a lineup that we went with for the first half of the season, and now we’ve switched things up at the start of this week,” he said. “We want to see what combinations work come sectional time. With the play this week, I know where we will be at right now. That’s a positive from this week.”
Today’s rescheduled tournament at Brown County has been canceled due to impending weather.
The Cougars (2-8) will host Edinburgh on Monday and play a makeup match Tuesday at Hauser.