Wayne Christian nets quality non-conference win

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 2, 2012 1:49 PM

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Wayne Christian varsity girls' tennis coach Dana Willman wasn't so sure about allowing her team to play doubles first against Greenfield on Monday afternoon.

Her worries quickly vanished.

The Eagles emerged victorious on two of three courts and eventually claimed a 7-2, non-conference triumph on the Wayne Community College courts.

"What makes me so nervous about it ... it's a Monday, you haven't practiced and probably none of the girls have hit over the weekend," Willman said. "I made the girls promise me that they would move on every shot because in doubles you're not hitting every shot and you could get lazy."

The players kept their promise.

The No. 2 tandem of Elizabeth Sutton-Ally Willman seized control early and rolled to an 8-1 win over the Knights' Kenan Barnes-Madison Tyson. The No. 1 duo of Brooke Barfield-Taylor Willman battled through a mid-match lull to dispatch Courtney Williams-Hannah Ferrell 8-4.

Greenfield won No. 3 doubles.

"I like it because it helps me warm up, move my feet around and then I'm ready for singles," Barfield said. "It's different for other players. If you can win doubles, then you're pumped up and ready to finish off singles."

Unlike their previous meeting with the Knights, the Eagles (6-2 overall) collected victories on five singles courts instead of three.

Barfield cruised past Barnes 6-1, 6-0 at the No. 1 slot. Taylor Willman erased a 4-1 second-set deficit and handed Williams a 6-2, 6-4 loss at No. 2. Sutton trailed 3-2 in the opening set and bounced back to defeat Blake Lantz 6-3, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.

Sutton improved to 8-0 this season.

"My coach told me to hit it to her forehand more because she couldn't get the ball back, so that's what I did," Sutton said.

Fourth-seeded Ally Willman dispatched Ann Moore Robertson 6-1, 6-2. Greenfield head coach Will Cobb bumped Robertson and two teammates up one seed apiece when Hannah Ferrell couldn't continue due to a back injury.

Sixth-seeded Carla Benton outlasted the Knights' Eliza Darden 15-13 in the third-set tiebreaker, and grabbed a 0-6, 6-4, 1-0 win.

Greenfield took the No. 5 singles match.

"It's a huge team win," coach Willman said. "I knew if we could get number two doubles, I thought we'd have a good shot at winning the match. The girls played hard today and it paid off for them."