The Hauser girls tennis team looked liked it was in trouble early on against Brown County in Wednesday opening round of the girls tennis sectional at Columbus North.
The Jets found a way to rally and defeat the Eagles 4-1 and advance to Thursday’s semifinal against Columbus East.
The most competitive matches came at No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles.
At No. 3 singles, Hauser’s Andie Clark lost the first set to Brown County’s Meg Smith 6-3, but then Clark rallied to capture the second and third sets 6-2, 6-2.
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“I used my strategies and tried to hit the small short shots because that seemed to be working for me,” Clark said.
At No. 2 doubles, Hauser’s Aunaka Wasil and Brooke Hopkins dropped the first set 6-1 to Brown County’s Hannah Asher and Grace Baughman, but then rallied to win the second set 6-4. Wasil and Hopkins prevailed in the third set 6-4.
“I was getting kind of worried when we were tied because we only needed one more match, but to be able to win both those matches, I felt really good about it,” Hauser coach Molly Crabtree said. “To go full circle from the beginning, especially with Andie, who is a beginner tennis player, to be able to finish strong for the sectional makes me happy as a coach.”
The Eagles (3-18) didn’t leave empty handed. At No. 1 singles, Baelyn Koester defeated the Jets’ Abby Johnson 6-3, 6-2 to move on to the individual singles tournament next week.
At No. 2 singles, Hauser’s Melanie Taylor topped Claire Dannelley 6-1, 6-2. At No. 1 doubles, the Jets’ Maddy Archer and Carly Archer defeated Brown County’s Olivia Baughman and Cassidy Davis 7-6 (5), 6-0.
“It was obviously not what we had hoped for,” Brown County coach Thom Miller said. “We matched up pretty well at every position except for our 2 singles, where we had a substitute come in. We’ve only had our full lineup for two matches this year, which is frustrating because we played a heavier lineup this year, and that’s intentional. We wanted to play good competition because we wanted our team to compete well. Over the years, our record may have suffered, but our quality of play has really improved.”
Hauser (7-7) plays Columbus East in one semifinal, while Columbus North and Edinburgh play in the other semifinal, with the matches slated to being at 4:30 p.m. today. The final is at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
“It’s going to be tough for us at the 1 and 2 (singles) positions. Hopefully Andie can use this momentum against East,” Crabtree said. “I think our doubles are strong enough that we can pull it out. It’ll be much tougher (today), but I’m hopeful.”
