By JOHN McCALLUM
Editor
The Cheney girls' tennis team managed to get in two of three matches last week, coming up on the short end of competition at West Valley and Mt. Spokane, 3-4 to the Eagles Tuesday and 2-5 to the Wildcats Wednesday.
Tuesday at West Valley the Blackhawks won two of four singles matches and one of three doubles. In singles Alla Chekulayeva beat Courtney Wold 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2 while Holly Passey cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 win over Becca Cornelly at No. 4.
At No. 1 singles Katelynn Smedley lost in straight sets to Veronika Dederer, 3-6, 4-6 while Abi Smith fell to Jacque Swanson 0-6, 3-6 at No. 3.
No. 1 doubles Liz Gill and Holly West notched Cheney's only partners' win, grinding out a three-set win over Kymberli Conger and Carissa Busch, 4-6, 6-1 and 6-4. The Blackhawks duo overcame what head coach Corey Anderson called a “miserable” first set by playing much better down the stretch.
At No. 2 doubles, Linnae Kessler and Becca lost 4-6, 0-6 to Natalie Hobbs and Alisse Middleton, while at No. 3, Katie Passey and Rachel Hamby lost in straight sets 1-6, 2-6 to Lyndsey Sather and Katie salmon.
Wednesday's wins at Mt. Spokane both came in singles play, with Chekulayeva defeating Kayla Upuner 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 and Passey cruising past Julia Brin 6-2, 6-2 in a match Anderson said wasn't as close as the score indicated.
“Holly just commanded that from beginning to end,” he said.
In other singles action Smedley lost 4-6, 4-6 to Cecily Wright at No. 1 in what Anderson said was the toughest opponent the Cheney freshman has faced so far, an indication of continuing adjustment to the high school game. At No. 3, Smith played very loose in winning the first set 7-6 against Katie Kuer, but she tightened up in the second and couldn't regain her early court presence in the third, losing 0-6 and 3-6.
In doubles, Gil and West “lost the net” Anderson said in falling 2-6, 0-6 to Leah Wurst and Olivia Atkins at No. 1 while Stevens and Passey did the same in losing 1-6, 1-6 to Jesse Lesniak and Sydney Wedde at No. 2. At No. 3, Hamby and Melody Eaton teamed for the first time on varsity but lost 0-6, 2-6 to Kayley Hohman and Nikki Littleton.
Thursday's only home match last week, non-league with University, was rained out.
Anderson felt last week's competition was good for his team, revealing areas the girls need to work and signs of improvement, especially in the lower doubles teams, which have an “experience gap” with their opponents but are getting better. Singles play is strong, and Anderson said he expects doubles to eventually get there too, especially once the major impediment, court time, is overcome with better weather.
“Overall, we're looking good,” he said. “We're looking better at pulling out more wins this year.”
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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