CRETE – The York tennis team got off to a hot start Thursday at Crete by winning the opening three doubles matches of its dual with the Cardinals. From there on, the Dukes rolled to what turned out to be an 8-1 victory.
“We have some work to do as we progress into the busiest part of the season,” York tennis coach Josh Miller said. “Practices are very few and far between, so we have to use matches as teaching tools going forward. The girls responded well today and I hope we can continue to raise our level of play against those powerhouse tennis programs that are coming up on our schedule.”
In No. 1 doubles action, the York duo of Nicole Mittman and Holly Rockenbach shut out Crete’s Katelyn Jindra and Danielle Blackledge 8-0.
“Holly and Nicole continue to play solid tennis,” Miller said, “but we are really encouraging them to add more weapons to their arsenal with each match.”
In No. 2 doubles, Kaitlyn Phinney and Morgan Peterson battled to get through a tough start but ultimately got past Crete’s Kate Schroder and MaKenzie Crumbliss 8-2.
“Kaitlyn and Morgan didn’t start their match with much consistency, but they reeled off six-straight games to end the match and looked much more in control by the end,” Miller said.
In their first doubles match together this season, York’s Elvira Eek and Joanna Lin combined to defeat their No. 3 doubles competition of Jackie Mendez and Tram Ngo. Eek and Lin won handily, 8-2.
Eeek, York’s No. 1 singles player, went on to beat Blackledge 8-3 while the only loss the Dukes’ varsity suffered came in No. 2 singles, when Becca Poole, who was competing in her first varsity singles action of her career, fell 8-1 to Jindra.
Mittman and Rockenbach stormed through their opponents in singles play. Mittman beat Crumbliss 8-2 while Rockenbach tagged Schroder with an 8-0 loss. Phinney, who was also playing in her first career varsity singles match, shut down her opponent, Morgan Wohl, 8-0 as well.
“In singles we saw some really good adjustments from Kaitlyn Phinney in her first varsity singles match,” Miller said. “Elvira gained momentum in the middle of her match and closed it with a six-game winning streak. Holly and Nicole perfected their singles game as well.”
York will compete in a triangular with Elkhorn South and Gretna at Elkhorn South High School on Monday.
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