Catholic tennis sweeps Glendale

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Video by Don Eskins (O-Zone Freelancer)

The Springfield Catholic Fightin Irish captured all nine matches, six singles and three doubles, in a tennis matchup with the Glendale Falcons on Monday afternoon, to blank the Falcons 9-0.

The dual took place at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.

The victory upped the Irish’s record to 3-1 on the season.

Springfield Catholic was led by senior Anna Rader. Rader, who holds down Catholic’s No. 1 spot, likes the way her Fightin Irish are looking.

“We lost a close one, 5-4, to Kickapoo earlier this year but since that loss we’ve been playing very well,” said Rader. “I’m really excited about playing with our girls this year and so far it’s really been a lot of fun.”

Rader recorded an 8-3 victory over Glendale’s No. 1 player Brook Smith, in singles, and teamed up with Casey Lee to defeat the Falcon’s Smith and Sydney Johnson 8-3 in doubles.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MATCH

“Brook is always a super tough competitor,” Rader said. “I had to keep my composure today against her. I started out trying to hit winners to early and she was making it pretty tough on me. So I had to buckle down, begin playing with more consistency and wait for the right opportunity to attack to beat her.”`

Head Irish coach Martin Versteeg never lost confidence in his top player.

“Anna was having a few problems with her serve today,” said the Irish coach. “But she’s strong and understands what she has to do to win. I figured she would come through.”

As for the victory Versteeg was happy to see his girls play well but recognized that this hasn’t been a typical year of tennis for the Falcons.

“Glendale’s a bit down this year from the level of play they’re accustomed to,” Versteeg said. “But they still put up a good fight and they won’t be down for long.”

Although the loss was a tough one for the Falcons, head coach Mark Penticuff said that his girls played hard.

“We have a lot of young players on our team this year, players who have no varsity experience,” said the Falcon coach. “They’re learning what it means to be a varsity player and just how different play is at the next level.”

“But we’re seeing some good efforts from our kids as the year progresses,” said Penticuff. “We might be losing but our kids are beginning to win more games. As long as they keep playing hard we’ll continue to get better.”

Match results: SC 9, Glendale 0
Singles: 1- Anna Rader (SC) def Brook Smith (G) 8-3; 2- Erin Jarvis (SC) def Sydney Johnson (G) 8-1; 3- Casey Lee (SC) def Anna Fredrick (G) 8-5; 4- Claire Griesemer (SC) def Chanier Robbins (G) 8-0; 5- Cecilia Bailey (SC) def Madeline Vann (G) 8-2; 6- Ashley Andrews (SC) def Reagan Richardson (G) 8-2.

Doubles: 1- A. Rader & C. Lee (SC) def B. Smith & S. Johnson (G) 8-3; 2- E. Jarvis & C. Bailey (SC) def A. Fredrick & M. Vann (G) 8-4; 3; C. Griesemer & A. Andrews (SC) def C. Robbins & R. Richardson (G) 8-2.

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