Girls Tennis: Doubles teams push Lady Hubs past Morris

Rochelle edges Redskins 3-2 for first win since 2016

Russell Hodges
Posted 9/21/18

Nearly two years have passed since the Rochelle varsity girls tennis team emerged victorious in match play, but that losing stretch came to an end on Thursday when the Lady Hubs battled Morris on the road.

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Girls Tennis: Doubles teams push Lady Hubs past Morris

Rochelle edges Redskins 3-2 for first win since 2016

Posted

MORRIS — Nearly two years have passed since the Rochelle varsity girls tennis team emerged victorious in match play, but that losing stretch came to an end on Thursday when the Lady Hubs battled Morris on the road.

Rochelle won all three doubles matches against the Redskins, and the doubles sweep allowed the Lady Hubs to defeat Morris 3-2 and improve to 1-9 on the season. The victory was Rochelle’s first since the 2016 season. Seniors Ashlynn Leininger and Jasmine Rissman downed Morris players Jocelyn Olvera and Megan Warzinski in two sets at No. 1 doubles (7-5, 6-3).

“It was really exciting and the best part was seeing how happy the coaches were,” Leininger said. “[Jasmine] and I both joined the tennis team at the same time and we both became really good friends. We aren’t afraid to communicate how we feel, and I think being really close has been beneficial for us.”

Junior Ruth Gardner and sophomore Melanie Gonzalez kept the positive momentum going with a 7-5, 6-1 victory against Teri Silva and Nicole Houck at No. 2 doubles. The win was Gardner’s second of the season in doubles after she and freshman Jordin Dickey won at Streator on Monday.

“It boosted my confidence and I think it boosted the confidence of all the varsity girls,” Gardner said. “I think I’ve been better with my serves. My serves were more like lobs when I was on junior varsity but they’re much straighter now. My backhands are much better.”

Freshmen Josie Lundquist and MeLisa Young, who won their first doubles match of the season at Dixon, teamed up to beat Morris players Esperanza Xique and Catherine Ashermann 6-0, 6-4 at No. 3 doubles. Senior Lila Roush fell 0-6, 1-6 to Sophie Menenga at No. 1 singles while junior Caitlin McMurray dropped her No. 2 singles match to Logan Gosset 0-6, 0-6.

“It was really exciting and I thought we played really well,” Lundquist said. “We finally put out what we’ve been doing in practice. [MeLisa] and I have been best friends for the last couple of years so we really know where we’re going on the court and we’re both competitive which makes the game a lot more fun. We’re having fun and we’re not worried about losing.”

Rochelle will host the Lady Hub Varsity Invitational this weekend.