Inokaityte, Lisle wear down Montini
Lisle senior tennis player Goda Inokaityte wasn’t thrown by Monday’s extreme heat. In fact she made it work for her as she won her first-singles match 6-3, 6-0 to lead the Lions to a 4-1 win over visiting Montini.
“I fought through the heat and it turns out I had the endurance needed to win,” Inokaityte said. “I tried to move my opponent around and tire her out.”
Lions coach Justin Smith, who praised his only senior for her leadership and the consistency of her play, agreed that Inokaityte’s strategy paid off.
“She was smart making her opponent run around a lot,” Smith said. “She would start off the point hitting short balls to make the girl come to the net, and then she lobbed it over her head. Today was another example of how Goda has improved this year. She’s been our top player all four years on varsity. This year she’s winning more matches.”
Smith is impressed with the talent in the Lions junior class and praised Inokaityte for “showing the other girls how it should be done.”
Sarah Mogensen gave the Lions a sweep of the singles matches with a 6-2, 6-3 win at second singles.
“Sarah is an athlete,” Smith said. “She plays both varsity basketball and soccer and you see how that translates to the tennis court. She’s been a doubles player the past two years but took over at singles due to another girl’s injury and she’s really adjusted well to the new position. With her speed she’s able to run down more balls and return them to put more pressure on the opponent.”
Lisle also recorded victories at first and third doubles, with Julia Loveless and Lyndsay Franklin winning 6-4, 6-2 in the top spot and Katie Yao and Ani May winning 3-6, 6-4 (11-9) at third doubles.
The coach said that this year’s Lions represent the best team Lisle has had in years.
“They work hard and they’re improving,” Smith said. “They’re doing a great job of developing into a true team.”
Montini’s only victory was recorded by second doubles Jeanne Disis and Sarah Robertson, who won 6-3, 6-1.
“Those two have been playing consistently,” said Montini coach Dennis Kozelsky. “They won second doubles at the Addition Trail Invite over the weekend. They’ve been effective by serving big and keeping the girl at the net in the middle of the court to smack the serve return right back over the net to finish the point.”
Overall, Kozelsky was not pleased with his team’s performance.
“This is a disappointing team loss,” Kozelsky said. “We just weren’t hitting the ball with any consistency.”
Montini is 3-3 on the season.