Batavia dominates St. Charles N.
Batavia’s girls tennis team rolled to its 12th win in a row Tuesday afternoon, defending its home courts with a decisive 6-1 thumping of St. Charles North.
“This team has amazed me in a lot of ways this year,” Batavia coach Brad Nelson said. “They come out and get the job done, match in and match out.”
The Bulldogs dominated the doubles matches, starting with a powerful performance by Hannah Potter and Kaitlin Mills at No. 1.
The duo anchors a formidable lineup.
“We have a very good team and to be able to see that everyone is doing well is great,” Potter said. “In practice, it’s nice to have everyone pushing each other and raising our game.”
After turning in a near flawless, 6-0, first set against Ashley Randazzo and Kate Lesswing, Potter and Mills refused to let up in closing out the second set by a score of 6-1,
“We knew that they were going to be a good team, so we kept pushing ourselves and tried to keep the momentum going,” Mills said.
The No. 2 doubles match was a mirror image of the first, as Jenny Mizikar and Amelia Cogan fought off a gutsy effort by North Stars Katie Wolfe and Alex Duncan, and were playing the best tennis of the day at the end of their 6-1, 6-0 win.
“I thought (Wolfe and Duncan) played really well,” St. Charles North coach Eve Tubman said. “They were a little overpowered, but they stayed in the points.”
Batavia’s Karissa Schroeder and Brooke Lefevre got off to a bit of a slow start, but cruised past Alli Dunklau and Abby Kloberdanz, 6-2, 6-1, at third doubles.
“They came out strong in the second set and didn’t let St. Charles North get back in the match,” Nelson said.
Fourth doubles provided the dual’s only competitive match, as Batavia’s Morgan Hess and Lauren Hermann bounced back from a tough second set loss to defeat Kelly Mehan and Katherine Mehan, 6-4, 0-6, 6-1.
St. Charles North’s lone win was an impressive one, as Brittany Plaszewski blanked Miranda Grizaffi, 6-0, 6-0, in the top singles match.
“My forehand and backhand were really on today,” Plaszewski said. “I was able to keep a lot of balls in play.”
Plaszewski, a junior who did not play high school tennis last year, opting instead to work on her game against USTA competition, said that the experience had a major impact on her overall game.
“Playing different types of players and different types of games helped me a lot,” Plaszewski said.
In a second singles match that was closer than the score would suggest, Tamar Norville managed to limit her mistakes and overpower Faith Oehlerking, 6-3, 6-2.
“That was a good match, Faith was definitely in it,” Tubman said.
Liza Fruendt improved her high school tennis record to 36-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Morgan Cannata.
“I just go on the court and try my best to get the win, and it’s 0-0 at the start of every match,” Fruendt said. “Consistency is what wins points and matches, and I worked hard today to keep the ball in play.”
The Bulldogs are now 12-1 overall and 3-0 in the Upstate Eight Conference.
“We opened the season with a disappointing loss against York, and I think that was a wake-up call for us,” Nelson said. “Since then, everyone on this team has come to matches with a sense of urgency. We have to play with intensity, no matter who we’re playing, and we did that against a good team today.”
St. Charles North is 1-1 in conference.