Nash Central turns back Eastern Wayne tennis

By From staff reports
Published in Sports on August 22, 2010 1:50 AM

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A good, early-season test.

State-ranked Eastern Wayne took preseason Big East favorite Nash Central to the limit in a 5-4, non-conference girls' tennis loss on a humid Friday afternoon.

"This was a great match for the beginning of the season," said second-year Warriors head coach Kelly Hoff. "Nash Central is strong at the top and deep in their lineup. I was proud of my girls especially in the middle of the lineup."

Third-seeded Grace Delbridge, fourth-seeded Amber Miller and fifth-seed Joann Talton each emerged victorious in singles play for Eastern Wayne. Talton rallied from an opening-set loss to turn back the Bulldogs' Lizzie Eakin 1-6, 6-4, 10-8.

Talton teamed with Janielle Daniel to earn the Warriors' lone point at No. 2 doubles. The third-seeded duo of Miller-Jackie Johnson rallied from a 6-1 deficit only to lose a heartbreaker 9-8 (5) to Nash Central's Meredith Davis-Eakin.

"Joann had to fight physically and mentally through her singles match to help keep us in the match for doubles," said Hoff. "Going into doubles, we knew we had to pull out the number two and three matches with the Price girls (Randi and Kaley) playing together (at number one).

"Amber and Jackie (Johnson) fought a hard doubles match from being down 6-1 to come back to a tiebreaker. This match will definitely be a building block for my team and me."

Eastern Wayne (1-1 overall) returns home Monday for a non-conference match against perennial 3-A power Wilson Fike. First serve is 4 p.m. in New Hope.