Fike drops Eastern Wayne tennis
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on August 20, 2009 1:46 PM
Wilson Fike set the tone in singles play and Eastern Wayne never recovered during its 7-2, non-conference tennis loss on Wednesday afternoon.
The Golden Demons captured five singles points including an impressive win at the No. 1 position by Mary-Katherine Prince, who topped Danielle Daniel 6-2, 6-3.
Mallory Short, Meredith Pruden, Connor Allegood and Emily Rhyne each picked up a win in their respective singles matches.
"I was really pleased with how well we played in singles," said Fike head coach Lee Matthews. "We moved well and we controlled the pace by getting a lot of first serves in."
Kristin Baddour secured the Warriors' lone singles point.
"I was very happy with Kristin," said first-year EW head coach Kelly Matthews said. "That was a big point for her to win and she had to play a very strong match to get it."
The Warriors (1-1 overall) fared much better in doubles action even though the fate of the match had already been decided. Amber Miller and Morgan Jeffries made short work of the Golden Demon duo of Sydney Jones and Annah-Claire Summerlin.
In No. 1 doubles, the tandem of Danielle Daniel-Warner Underwood battled Prince-Allegood throughout the most hotly contested matchup of the evening. The Warrior tandem built an 8-7 lead, but could not put the Demons away.
Several missed opportunities allowed Prince-Allegood to claim a 9-8 win on the strength of a 7-2 tiebreak victory.
After Eastern Wayne's first match of the season, a 6-0 win over Wilson Hunt on Monday that shortened by a rain shower, Matthews was anxious to see how her team would look in its first doubles test.
"I was pretty pleased with what I saw," said Matthews. "That was the first time that any of these girls have been paired together and I thought they did a great job. You can't think of doubles as just three points. It really is more important than that especially as the season goes on."
Eastern Wayne visits Hunt on Monday.