Brownstown Central’s Leah Pottschmidt hits a backhand shot during her No. 1 singles match on Thursday against Austin.
BROWNSTOWN — The tennis match between Brownstown Central and Austin was tied 2-2 as the two doubles teams went to a third set to decide the winner.
It was Austin’s team of Emma Mains and Allyson Davidson that was able to beat Brownstown’s Audrey Scarlett and Jenna Bolte to give the Eagles a 3-2 victory on Thursday night.
Scarlett and Bolte lost the first set 6-4 and trailed 5-4 in the second set, but the pair of Braves battled back to win the second set 7-5.
“They just tried to hit the ball better,” BC head coach Erik Stangland said. “If you can’t hit a return off the serve when it’s not a hard serve, it’s going to be a tough net.”
After taking the first game in the third set, Scarlett and Bolte struggled to find their rhythm as Austin won the set 6-2.
“They were just frustrated, but they have to figure out how to get past that,” Stangland said.
Brownstown’s two victories came at two singles and one doubles.
Brynn Burton beat Lydia Luedeman 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles, and Kaitlyn Williams and Bella Brown beat Ashley Rice and Evelynn Ousley 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles.
“Brynn needed a win tonight, and that was a nice win because it just builds confidence. Tonight, she was hitting better groundstrokes,” Stangland said. “One doubles wasn’t as sharp as they’ve been, but they wanted it more. That’s what we need to have more of that want and desire.”
Avery Harrison lost 6-0, 6-3 to Jayleigh Schepman at No. 3 singles, and Leah Pottschmidt lost 6-1, 6-0 to Brynn Owens at No. 1 singles.
Pottschmidt is the lone senior on the Braves’ roster.
With a younger, less experienced team, Stangland wants to see his team continue to improve over the course of this season and stay strong mentally.
Brownstown is now 3-3 on the season and will host Brown County on Monday.
“Knowing we’ve got Brown County, Seymour and Jennings County all coming up, it’ll be a bit rough coming up,” Stangland said. “I don’t want them to just get frustrated and down on themselves. We’re going to work on mechanics and try to get confidence back. Right now, just having an attitude that you want to win and play your best, and if you don’t win, at least you knew you played your best. That’s where we need to be right now.”