MOUNT VERNON — Each of the Mount Vernon High School girls tennis doubles pairs came away with a win against Marion Harding on Wednesday afternoon. The Jackets were less fortunate in the singles matches, dropping all three.
Katie Ricard and Casey Bonsignore came out strong, putting away Harding’s Emily Slagle and Kaylee Hamblin in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2.
“We both played really well,” said Ricard. “We were talking to each other; usually we don’t, so that helped a lot. The other team did a really good job, too, but we just came out on top. We lost yesterday, so it was nice to win again. Coming out with that 6-0 was really good, and from there we kept it up.”
“Whenever the ball is on one side, we just have to tell each other to switch so the ball doesn’t get between us. We try to keep each other upbeat,” said Bonsignore. “Coming out strong really built my confidence — I loved it. I’m getting a little better on my hits and on my serve.”
Mount Vernon’s Clare Jaymes and Casey Bower had a tougher road, coming back from an early setback to take their match against Alli Sharrock and Hannah Bender, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
“It was rough at first,” said Jaymes. “We didn’t play our best, but we kept going. We said, ‘We’re going to dominate,’ and we did.”
Bower was clear on what pulled it together for the pair.
“We have been best friends forever,” said Bower. “We know how to get inside each other’s head and calm each other down. So we are able to work with each other. We said, ‘OK, we can do this,’ and so we did.”
Mount Vernon first singles player Jacquie Rigg lost to Allison James in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. Natalie Gardner was downed by Harding’s Kristina Moodley, also in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. Justin Tannehill dropped the Jackets’ other singles match to Jenna Moodley, 6-2, 6-3.
Winning the doubles matches gave Mount Vernon girls tennis coach Kaitlyn Orsborn something to smile about.
“Katie and Casey usually don’t play together, but they have because we have had a girl who was absent,” said Orsborn. “But I am really impressed by the caliber of tennis that they are playing. They played together in Delaware and lost, but I saw the same quality of tennis today.”
The Mount Vernon jayvee team lost both of its singles matches. Bridget Fawcett lost to Harding’s Kayla Betker, 8-4, and Kayla Steinmetz was defeated by Harding’s Katie Westbrook, 8-1.
“We have some really solid tennis players this year,” said Orsborn. “It’s just a matter of figuring out where they fit best. I don’t always want to be about the win. I want them to play hard and work on their fundamentals, work on building each other up and keep their heads in the game.”
