In its first match of the season, the Saint Mary’s tennis team took a 4-3 win over Huntington.
It was a back-and-forth battle for the win, but a late forfeit from Huntington in the singles competition cemented a victory for the Belles.
Doubles
In the first match, senior Alayna Campbell and her partner, junior Emma Kealy, took a 7-6 win against opponents Addison Mast and Tiziana Rizzato, giving the Belles their first victory. In the second match, freshman Shannon Dudy and sophomore Sophia Pischalko took a 7-5 loss to even the team score at 1-1. The third match put the Belles in position to claim the doubles point, as sophomore Anna Gardner and freshman Lanie Brant took a 6-2 win over Coby Sander and Macy Fegler from Huntington.
Singles
Campbell fell in the first round of singles to Mast, who took the first set 6-1 and the second set 6-0. It was back and forth in the second match as Kealy went up against Rizzato. Kealy dropped the first set 6-0 but bounced back, taking a 6-4 win to send the match into a tiebreaker. In a contested tiebreaker, Kealy couldn’t pull through, losing 10-6.
In the third match, Gardner faced Sofia Kursinskaia from Huntington but fell. Gardner dropped the first set 6-4 and the second set 6-2. On the next court, the fourth match was played between Dudy and Grace Meyer from Huntington, and Dudy came out on top. Dudy took the first set 6-2 and the second set 6-2 to take the win. In the fifth singles match of the day, Brant faced off against Fegler and took the win for the Belles. Like the previous match, Brant won the first set 6-2 and the second set 6-2 to tied up the overall score at three. The sixth match was the game-changer for the Belles, as Huntington forfeited the final match, giving the Belles the final 4-3 win.
The Belles now prepare to face Anderson on Feb. 15, starting at 12:30 p.m.
