Queens of the court
Women's tennis dominates Mesa en route to clean sweep
By Matt Petersen
Sports Editor,
The VOICE
How would the women's tennis team respond at home against Mesa after a heartbreaking loss to Pima two days earlier?
Emphatically.
Photo by Matt Petersen/The VOICE
Freshman Katie Lively returns on a volley in her individual match against Mesa.
Renewed chemistry and a shared sense of atonement after a winnable match gave the Lady Gauchos enough of an edge to shut out the Thunderbirds in all six individual matches last Thursday.
"We lost a tough one on Tuesday, and I think the girls were pretty frustrated with their effort," coach Josh Tolson said. "They came out, got every ball out on the court and that's why they prevailed today."
Only freshman Katie Lively needed three sets to win her match. After dropping the first set 4-6, she won the second set 6-2, forcing a ten-point tiebreaker she would go on to win handily.
"I had a little bit of a negative attitude in the first set. In the second set i brought around, turned positive," Lively said.
"It's pretty hard to come back in the second set. You just have to focus to keep your mindset on what you want and not give up on yourself."
Not giving up was anything but a given a few weeks ago. After starting the season 4-2, the Lady Gauchos dropped four straight matches, prompting the team to seek take a good look not in the mirror of talent, but of team togetherness.
"We struggled about halfway through the season," Tolson said. "We did a little bit of cheers and stuff like that to help team chemistry. It has definetely helped them. They've grown as a group and become a lot closer."
Glendale (6-4 ACCAC) currently sits second in the conference behind powerhouse Eastern Arizona College. The Gila Monsters and Lady Gauchos finished 1-2 last year, respectively.
Eastern has won both regular season matches, albeit close ones (5-4, 6-3).
Despite the challenge that is beating Eastern, the Lady Gauchos' confidence reflects its rediscovered success.
"I see us as taking regionals and taking top five in nationals," Lively said. "I know we can do that. We all believe in each other, so it's going to happen."
Coach Tolson echoed her sentiments.
"If we come out like we did today, we can get Eastern come regional time."
The NJCAA Region I Tournament will take place April 15-16 at Paseo, Texas, followed by the week-long NJCAA Nationals in Tucscon from May 1 -May 7.
Please send comments to mnpetersen@gccvoice.com
