Lady Bison tennis opens with 5-4 loss to Punxsutawney
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
By Josh Mlot Sports Writer
HYDE - The season didn't start off in perfect fashion for the Clearfield girls tennis team, but it did begin promisingly.
The Lady Bisons hosted a tough Punxsutawney team on Monday and gave the Lady Chucks everything they could handle before eventually falling, 5-4.
"I was very pleased," new Clearfield head coach Steve Miller said. "Some of those matches were very close, and a few points here and there and it could have gone the other way.
"I think the girls played well enough today that this will be a confidence-builder. Punxsutawney is a good team. Again, my goal is for the girls to have fun and improve, and hopefully wins will come as we do that."
The Lady Bisons have plenty to be confident about after Madison Sopic and Bekah Greenland picked up singles victories. Greenland then paired with Sierra Grice for doubles glory, and Jenna Cowder and Hillary Buck also pulled out a doubles win.
Clearfield had near misses in the other two doubles matches, with pairs fighting back from deficits before ultimately finding themselves on the wrong end of the final score.
"I enjoyed watching the doubles and seeing the girls having fun and really enjoying playing," Miller said. "That's good to see.
"I liked that the girls were pretty consistent. One of the things we always need to work on is footwork. You just need to make sure you move to get your feet in the right position to hit the ball. But overall, I was very pleased with the serving ... they seemed to be very consistent and played well."
Sopic's singles effort was the match of the day, as some questions over tiebreaker scoring nearly cost her the first set.
After what appeared to be a first-set victory, Sopic and Lady Chuck Keshia Farnsworth were forced to replay the frame. But the Lady Bison No. 2 made sure the result was unchanged, taking the first set 7-6 (7-5) before blowing through the second set, 6-1.
"I was very pleased with Madison," Miller said. "She fought back ... It could have been really discouraging for Madison because it seemed like she should have won the set.
"They had to play another tiebreaker because of the confusion, and she came back and won the tiebreaker. Then she just stormed through that second set."
The second singles triumph came at the hands of No. 5 Greenland. After taking a year off from the sport, Greenland got things under way again with style, ousting Punxsy's Jenna Miller in a gritty match, 4-6, 7-5 (11-9).
"She lettered as a sophomore but didn't play last year so it was good to see that," Miller said. "Bekah looked very consistent in getting the ball back."
Greenland struck again in doubles action, as she and partner Grice sent Miller and Maddie Kernich packing, 8-3. Cowder and Buck swept through their match with little resistance, defeating Tori Brooks and Kylie Krise by an 8-1 score.
Sopic and Jenny Miller made some noise as well, coming back from a 5-2 deficit to tie things up before eventually dropping the match to Emily Graffias and Amber Baker, 8-6.
Kristen McKenzie and Suzie Colesar put up a similar effort and helped Clearfield nearly sweep the doubles portion of the day when they erased a 7-4 hole and tied their match at 7-7. But there wasn't enough gas left in the tank, and Punxsutawney's Farnsworth and Lindsey Paulina held off the Lady Bisons, 9-7.
"That was very good to see that they didn't get down and they fought back hard," coach Miller said.
In other singles action, No. 1 Jenny Miller was unable to overcome the Lady Chuck's Graffias, sliding down by a score of 6-1, 6-1.
No. 3 McKenzie lost in straight sets to Baker, 6-3, 6-3, and No. 4 Colesar fell in similar fashion, 6-1, 6-0, to Paulina.
Clearfield (0-1) continues a busy week when it hosts St. Marys today at 3:30 p.m. Punxsutawney 5, Clearfield 4
Singles
1. Emily Graffias, P, def. Jenny Miller, C, 6-1, 6-1.
2. Madison Sopic, C, def. Keshia Farnsworth, P, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.
3. Amber Baker, P, def. Kristen McKenzie, C, 6-3, 6-3.
4. Lindsey Paulina, P, def. Suzie Colesar, C, 6-1, 6-0.
5. Bekah Greenland, C, def. Jenna Miller, P, 4-6, 7-5 (11-9).
Doubles
1. Graffias-Baker, P, def. Miller-Sopic, C, 8-6.
2. Farnsworth-Paulina, P, def. McKenzie-Colesar, C, 9-7.
3. Sierra Grice-Greenland, C, def. Miller-Maddie Kernich, P, 8-3.
4. Jenna Cowder-Hillary Buck, C, def. Tori Brooks-Kylie Krise, P, 8-1.
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