Box Score
St. Davids, PA - The Messiah women's tennis team picked up their first winning streak of the season by defeating the Eagles of Eastern University 8-1 on Wednesday afternoon.
The match began with doubles action and the Falcon tandems came out swinging in very close matches.
At number three doubles
Michelle Curtis and
Jennifer Kitlan maintained a steady pace as they topped Martha Dietz and Julie Hasselback of Eastern by a score of 8-4. Curtis and Kitlan have been a reliable source at the final doubles spot for head tennis coach
Jon Arosell.
"They continue to be so reliable at the final doubles spot," Arosell commented. "They are young players and will only get better and I am glad we have them to prove the depth that is on this roster."
Katelyn Clark and
Ellen Harpold battle through a very tough number two doubles match against Jacquelyn Saunder and Kim Kirk of the Eagles. With back and forth points and games the match came down to very important and critical shots. Fortunately, the experience of these two juniors paid off and Clark and Harpold picked up an 8-6 victory in the pro set.
The top doubles pairing of
Sarah Brookhart and
Erin Ipsen proved to be an even more intense match than expected. Brookhart and Ipsen combined their smart net play and consistent groundstrokes to force Eastern's number one doubles team of Jenna Laubach and Angela Littlefield into hitting a lot of shots.
Brookhart and Ipsen managed to keep their consistent focus throughout most of the match and won the key games and points that they needed. With the scored tied at seven Messiah's pair was able to break Eastern's serve and win the final two games to give them the 9-7 pro set win.
"I was really proud of how our girls played in doubles," Arosell said. "We played oustanding at the end of the matches and we were able to come out on top. I thought that really showed the toughness of our team."
With the Falcons up 3-0 after doubles they were in good shape to take at least two singles matches and finish with a win.
Laubach and Ipsen squared off at the top singles spot and this time Laubach got the best of Ipsen. Laubach played a near flawless first set and won 6-1. Ipsen could not turn the match around in the second set and dropped the final set 6-2.
At number two singles junior
Sarah Brookhart came out with the perfect game plan to defeat Saunder of Eastern. She maintained consistent corner shots and mixed up top spin and back spin to win 6-2, 6-0.
Teammates
Katelyn Clark and
Ellen Harpold used their great double play together to win their single matches individually. Clark, playing at number three singles, topped Littlefield in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
Harpold, in the number five singles spot, had a tight first set in which she won in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5). The second set looked to be just as close until Harpold put all of her shots together and finished strong with a 6-3 second set decision.
The final matches both came down to a third set super tie breaker.
At number four singles Jen Kitlan faced Julie Hasselback and looked to be in control after a first set 6-1 win. The second set was back and forth the whole way through and Hasselback was able to force Kitlan into a tie breaker. Unfortunately, Kitlan could not close the door on the match and lost the tie breaker 7-5 and the set 7-6.
In the final set super tie breaker, Kitlan jumped on Hasselback with her dominant forehand and rode her impressive play to a 10-5 third set win.
The last singles match between Curtis and Amanda Prescott was intense. With Curtis winning the first set 6-1, it appeared that Messiah was going to run away with yet another singles win. However, Prescott completely turned the tables and did a role reversal in the second set winning 6-1. The third set super tie breaker could not have been closer with points going back and forth and neither player being able to capitilize on the others mistakes. In the end Curtis came up with the necessary shots to pull out a 10-8 super tie breaker victory.
"All in all, today's match went well," Arosell added. "We continue to play better in each match and hopefully we can carry this performance into conference play."
With the 8-1 win over the Eagles Messiah is now .500 on the season at 4-4 and currently holds a two game winning streak.
The Falcons next match is in Grantham, this Saturday, March 31st at 10:00 a.m. against Commonwealth nemisis Alvernia.
