Geneva rolls by Rosary
Though the girls tennis season is just a few weeks old, Rosary has probably seen all it wants of Geneva.
The two teams met for the second time since the season began, and the Vikings turned in a repeat performance, beating the Royals at home, 6-1, after previously posting a 5-0 win in a weekend tournament.
“We knew coming in today that they were a deep team and I was hoping this time we would make them work a little harder,” Rosary coach John Tsang said. “I give Geneva all the respect. They have a very good team.”
Geneva's dominance of the singles side began with freshman Kirby Einck's quick and decisive win over Allison Stephans at No. 1 singles.
“I just let her make the errors, instead of trying to do too much,” Einck said.
Einck got off to a strong start and never let up, sweeping the match, 6-0, 6-0.
“After the first game I knew what I needed to do to win,” Einck said. “I just focused on my court and getting one point at a time.”
Teammate Stephanie Sharpe was nearly as dominant in her No. 2 singles win over Megan Conlin, 6-0, 6-1, while Emma Hatel completed the singles sweep by beating Mary Beth Lilliwitz, 6-0, 6-1.
“I'm trying to get the girls to compete and take care of the ball a little more, and unfortunately we didn't do that for the most part,” Tsang said.
The Royals had a major bright spot at No. 1 doubles, where the sister duo of Micah and Andrea Goyao beat Carly Ausman and Emily Malecha in impressive fashion, 6-3, 6-1.
“They figured out what they needed to do to get a win, and they executed really well,” Tsang said. “What I appreciate about my first doubles team is that whoever they play, they're going to make them work.”
When they met earlier in the season, Ausman and Malecha beat the Goyaos, but the Royals' top singles team dominated Wednesday's match from beginning to end.
“We got up to the net better this time than we did when we played them before,” Micah Goyao said.
Though the Vikings tried to turn up the heat in the second set, the Goyaos used their individual strengths, attacked the net, and put away the big points.
“(Micah) is really good at getting balls back, and I'm really good at the net,” Andrea said.
The rest of the doubles matches, however, went Geneva's direction as the Vikings' team depth was on display.
Nora Burkhardt and Micheala Simone turned back a gutsy effort by Kesley Arnold and Paige Robinson, 6-2, 6-2, at second doubles. Over at No. 3, Geneva's own sister tandem of Kelsey and Margo Hess got off to a strong start and controlled the match throughout, beating Elizabeth Knebel and Junelly Gonzalez, 6-0, 6-2.
The fourth doubles match featured several long points, most of which went Geneva's way as Joannie Educate and Olivia Black overpowered Colleen Madlinger and Elise McArdle, 6-2, 6-0.
“Olivia and I play really well together,” Educate said. “We started out pretty strong, lost it a little bit in the middle, but then came back in the end.”