Tiger Tennis Rebounds From Loss To Beat Northridge
April 18, 2019 at 3:35 a.m.
Tiger Tennis Rebounds From Loss To Beat Northridge
By Mark Howe-
And it didn’t come easily, with four matches going into three sets.
“It was an interesting match,” Orban said. “It kept everybody’s attention, that’s for sure.”
Both doubles teams needed three sets to win; Rachel Yeager & Raegan Merchant at No. 1 lost their first set before winning the next two, all three sets had a 6-3 count. Amy Herendeen & Maddie Ray dropped a second-set tiebreaker before rebounding to take the third 6-4, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1.
Taylor Shoaf was the other Tiger winner at No. 2 singles. Alyssa Zellers dropped a tough three-setter at No. 1 singles.
Orban appreciated the grit his team showed. The head coach said the difference between Tuesday’s loss (statistics on page 3B) and getting the win today was a matter of playing with greater effort.
“Tonight’s win was huge, because we had a long talk before the match.
I wasn’t happy with the effort (Tuesday) night. You can be fairly new at these varsity spots, but the effort’s got to be there; you can’t just not play.
“So after our long talk, they really did turn it around, because Northridge is a good team. In spots I thought they were much better than Plymouth.”
The coach talked about the experience his team has isn’t necessarily equal to the level the players are slotted for this season. Some have extensive junior varsity experience, but varsity playing time is fairly limited with this Tiger team.
“This is a team without a lot of varsity experience,” said Orban. “Alyssa played at three singles last year, and the step up to one singles is a world of difference.
“Taylor finished the season last year on the JV, Rachel Boyle was back and forth between varsity and JV doubles, and then you got our one doubles team that played two doubles last year. On this year’s two doubles, Maddie didn’t play varsity at all, and Amy played some, but not much.
“So my expectation going in was we we’re going to have to really focus, and we’re going to have to build up some confidence, and I’m going to have to be patient with them.”
Orban was impressed that the Tigers didn’t hang their heads after the pre-match meeting.
“I was really proud of them tonight. It was such a dramatic turnaround from (Tuesday) night. And that’s what you hope for; that each match they get batter and better,” he said. “And with this group of kids, I really believe they will.”
Now 2-1 for the season, Warsaw is scheduled to travel to Fairfield today for a non-conference match, weather permitting.
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And it didn’t come easily, with four matches going into three sets.
“It was an interesting match,” Orban said. “It kept everybody’s attention, that’s for sure.”
Both doubles teams needed three sets to win; Rachel Yeager & Raegan Merchant at No. 1 lost their first set before winning the next two, all three sets had a 6-3 count. Amy Herendeen & Maddie Ray dropped a second-set tiebreaker before rebounding to take the third 6-4, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1.
Taylor Shoaf was the other Tiger winner at No. 2 singles. Alyssa Zellers dropped a tough three-setter at No. 1 singles.
Orban appreciated the grit his team showed. The head coach said the difference between Tuesday’s loss (statistics on page 3B) and getting the win today was a matter of playing with greater effort.
“Tonight’s win was huge, because we had a long talk before the match.
I wasn’t happy with the effort (Tuesday) night. You can be fairly new at these varsity spots, but the effort’s got to be there; you can’t just not play.
“So after our long talk, they really did turn it around, because Northridge is a good team. In spots I thought they were much better than Plymouth.”
The coach talked about the experience his team has isn’t necessarily equal to the level the players are slotted for this season. Some have extensive junior varsity experience, but varsity playing time is fairly limited with this Tiger team.
“This is a team without a lot of varsity experience,” said Orban. “Alyssa played at three singles last year, and the step up to one singles is a world of difference.
“Taylor finished the season last year on the JV, Rachel Boyle was back and forth between varsity and JV doubles, and then you got our one doubles team that played two doubles last year. On this year’s two doubles, Maddie didn’t play varsity at all, and Amy played some, but not much.
“So my expectation going in was we we’re going to have to really focus, and we’re going to have to build up some confidence, and I’m going to have to be patient with them.”
Orban was impressed that the Tigers didn’t hang their heads after the pre-match meeting.
“I was really proud of them tonight. It was such a dramatic turnaround from (Tuesday) night. And that’s what you hope for; that each match they get batter and better,” he said. “And with this group of kids, I really believe they will.”
Now 2-1 for the season, Warsaw is scheduled to travel to Fairfield today for a non-conference match, weather permitting.
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