For The Tribune
BROWNSTOWN
Coach Erik Stangland has been waiting all season for members of his Brownstown Central tennis team to be aggressive at the start of a match.
He saw the Braves start out strong during Tuesday’s match against Trinity Lutheran resulting in a 4-1 victory.
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“It was a big improvement,” Stangland said. “No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles put it together and got the match over quick. They did what they’re supposed to and they know they should get that done.”
Laken Reynolds scored a 6-0, 6-0 win over Courtney Barker at No. 1 singles, and Sydney Cockerham and Claudia Sibrel came up with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Bekah Brown and Katelyn Mensendiek at No. 2 doubles.
Olivia Hackman earned a 6-1, 6-0 win over Abby Schult at No. 2 singles and the duo of Rachel Adkins and Carley Brown teamed up to top Lauren Fleetwood and Macey Prewitt 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 doubles.
“At No. 2 singles, it took Olivia a little bit to get started, and once she got started she was hitting better tonight, she was concentrating better tonight so she got through her match really quickly,” Stangland said.
“No. 1 doubles took a little while. They’re still trying to get together. It’s the first time they’ve played doubles together for a season so this is only their sixth match together. They haven’t even been able to play very much other than two challenge matches, so they’re struggling a little bit to keep together on it, but they’ve played pretty well. Some things were better and other things weren’t for Riley (Roberts).”
Lauren Voss picked up Trinity’s lone point with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Roberts at No. 3 singles.
Cougars coach Mark Voss was pleased with Lauren’s win.
“We needed that for her confidence,” he said. “It’s her first win where she’s had to fight for it. Her forehand was real strong. Her backhand was adequate. Serves really helped power her through to get her advantage to win the sets so she could close it out on serves.
“I’m pretty proud of the way she played. I’m pretty proud of the way all the girls played. They played with a lot of heart and a lot of determination. We just need to figure out putting our smarts with our effort.”
Voss said that the Braves were a tough task.
“The thing is, when you play Brownstown you know they’re not going to beat themselves,” he said. “You can’t make mistakes against them and we made mistakes. When you make a mistake against a quality team like that it’s compounded. It’s like losing two points instead of one point.
“We just need to work on a few things; mental toughness, make sure we’re swinging through on the ball, and confidence, getting our confidence back up. We had a pretty good week last week. Our opponents weren’t as strong as those going into this week. This is a big week to determine where we really stand on the year.”
Stangland hopes the win builds momentum for the Braves.
“As a team, we did pretty well tonight and hope to improve on it for Thursday,” Stangland said. “We served at No. 2 doubles really well. No. 1 singles did really well being aggressive with the shots. Olivia got better as the match went on. No. 1 doubles struggled trying to keep it together. They kept hitting to the net person but they were able to cover each other a little bit more tonight and save some of those points.”
The Braves (4-2) will travel to Seymour Thursday, while the Cougars (3-2) will be idle unto Monday’s match at Shawe Memorial.