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Eagle tennis eliminated from sectionals
BRAZIL--The South Putnam girls' tennis team went into the first round of sectionals at Northview High School Thursday night hoping to come out with a victory against the Owen Valley Patriots.
The Eagles lost to the Patriots earlier in the season, but coach John Briones thought this time could be different. He said with a "full team" on the courts they would have a pretty good shot.
Briones was right at having a shot, but his team still fell short, 3-2 in a game that came down to the final match.
"We played some really good tennis. I'm really proud of the girls tonight," Briones said, "Some of the matches the ball didn't bounce our way, but there were some really hard fought matches out there. Very proud."
Five matches were going at once, three singles and two doubles. The two doubles of Allacyn Arnold and Savannah Adams won early over Owen Valley 6-1 and 6-3. This put the Eagles in the early lead and two other matches looked in favor of them early as well.
South Putnam needed to get three wins to advance to the second round of sectionals on Friday night as a team. After the early doubles win it looked as if Olivia Arnold and Miriah Cherry would do so also and advance. Arnold won her first three single set 6-2 in a best of three sets and Cherry won her two singles 7-5.
Eagles' senior Kelly Hayden lost both of her sets as a one singles, 6-4 and 6-1. The one doubles team of Kyndra Boyce and Megan Guthrie also lost both of their rounds, 6-4 and 6-2.
These losses quickly put the Eagles down and they had to win both of their remaining matches to advance.
The rules say that a team as a whole advances with a win or the one singles and one doubles advance with wins. In this case, for any chance to advance, the Eagles had to win as a team, since Hayden and the one double team lost.
Arnold gave hope to her team by winning her second match as well, 6-2 and 6-3 and tying the game lead at two.
It came down to the final match of Miriah Cherry and her opponent Darby Deford. This match went on along with the other ones and lasted nearly an hour after the last one.
"I really feel for the person that's out there playing," Briones said. "There is a lot of pressure on them. You have team out here waiting to get on, there is a lot of noise and there is just a lot of distraction overall."
It was a very even match and it had to go all three sets to decide a victor.
After winning the opening set 7-5, Cherry lost her second, 6-2. This set up the take all or nothing set that would decide the fate of both teams.
Cherry was down, 3-2, but she bounced back to take a 4-3 lead in the final set. She was starting to look confident, but Deford stole the next two points to take over the lead, 5-4.
It came down to the last point for Cherry. She could tie it at five and make the match go at least for two more points or she could lose by a single point given up. Cherry laid her heart out, but in the end Deford was just too good.
"Miriah, she has just done so well," Briones said, "On beating the mental game. She stayed in the game for every point as where last year I think she would have just folded, but I'm just proud of the way she hung in there. Like her opponent said, they mirrored each other. They were both identical. It came down to who was going to miss hit. There was a lot of long points. I'm proud of Miriah. She hung in there despite all the distraction."
Deford won the set, 6-4 to take a two set to one win and that was it. Her win ended the Eagles' season where they stood.
South Putnam had right to hope and they almost got the win, but Owen Valley was just too good.
The Eagles will lose four of their seven varsity players to graduation this year.
"They have led this team not with just their leadership, but they have taught the younger girls the mental part of it," Briones said, "Once you get over that you're going to win some matches. They helped the girls have fun too. Tennis is not all about competition, but it's having fun too. They're going to be hard to replace, but I think the young girls know what to do to get better. They know what to expect. I thin they will work hard at it in the offseason. They seem pretty enthusiastic, so I'm looking forward to next season."
The departure will leave room for Olivia Arnold (junior) and several others to take over the program. Briones is very excited about what he sees.
"I think she'll be a solid number one next year," Briones said, "Also, our number two doubles of Savannah Adams and Allacyn Arnold they improved tremendously from the beginning of the season. I'm excited for those three and think that they will do well. I think there will, again, be some good leaders coming in."
Northview Sectionals
Samick def. Hayden (SP) 6-4, 6-1
Deford def. Cherry (SP) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
O.Arnold (SP) def. Gilstrap 6-2, 6-3
Heck, Langley def. Boyce, Guthrie (SP) 6-4, 6-2
A. Arnold, Adams (SP) def. Clark, Dourado 6-1, 6-3