Batavia takes lead on St. Charles East before rains hit
Lightning and rain cut short Tuesday's Batavia-St. Charles East tennis match, postponing its conclusion until Wednesday afternoon,
But while they were on the court, the visiting Bulldogs got the better of it.
Led by Hannah Potter at first singles, the Bulldogs (13-0) hold a 3-1 lead in the suspended dual.
"We need just one more match, and I think one of our doubles teams that's still playing will come through for us," Batavia coach Brad Nelson said.
Potter came through in a big way, getting off to a fast start against St. Charles freshman Sarah Church and winning the first set 6-1. At times, Potter controlled the court with precise ground strokes that kept Church on the run.
"I tried to be patient, move her around a lot, and make her hit one less ball than I did," Potter said.
Despite the solid overall performance, the Batavia junior struggled with an inconsistent serve and a number of unforced errors.
"There was a big difference between my first and second serves today," Potter said. "If I just barely missed my first serve, the second one would be terrible. I don't know what happened."
Second serves were not an issue down the stretch for Potter, as she closed out the match with 3 aces in the final game to win the set 6-2.
Pressed into the tough role of stepping up No. 1 singles, Church battled from start to finish and held her own for much of the match.
"She definitely played hard," Nelson said. "She's a very good player."
The Bulldogs also won the No. 2 singles match as Miranda Grizaffi started strong and closed the same way, beating Lauren McNally 6-0, 6-0.
"Miranda has been outstanding all year long," Nelson said.
With the win, Grizaffi moved to 14-0 on the season. Liza Fruendt also kept her perfect record intact, improving to 13-0 with an aggressive 6-2, 6-2 win over Claire McCarthy.
"Liza continues to get better every time out," Nelson said. "You know you're doing pretty well when your second and third singles players are both undefeated."
St. Charles East picked up an impressive win at first doubles behind Erin Bowman and Claire Hafner, as the senior duo swept past Kaitlin Mills and Jenny Mizikar, 6-2, 6-2.
"They're doing a very nice job, and we need that from them," St. Charles East coach Sena Drawer said.
Bowman has adjusted well to her new partner. It's a familiar role for her.
"Erin has played with a different partner each year, and it's always a challenge to find a good match for her," Drawer said. "Claire has really improved her game and they seem to be a very good fit."
Batavia's Tamar Norville and Margerite Mallory won their first set over seniors Jessica Gatehouse and Sam Baginski at No. 2 doubles.
At third doubles, Batavia's Hannah Maddox and Karissa Schroeder battled back from a 5-2 deficit to win the first set, 7-5 against Hannah Braulick and Claudia Morency.
"They pulled it together, didn't panic, and made the adjustments they needed to," Nelson said.
Freshmen Haydyn Jones and Kelsie Robertson gave the Saints a ray of hope, winning the opening set against seniors Alyssa Pizzoferrato and Sam Potocek in their fourth doubles match.
Though her team is trailing in two of the three suspended matches, and needs to run the table to win the dual, Drawer remains confident that they can pull it off.
"Sometimes a rain delay can help the team that is struggling," Drawer said. "That's what we're hoping for."