Despite showing improvement, the Rockbridge County High School girls tennis team suffered a pair of Valley District losses last week, falling against East Rockingham 6-3 on home last Monday before suffering a 9-0 setback at Harrisonburg last Tuesday.
With the losses, the Wildcats dropped to 0-4, both overall and in the district.
The match against East Rockingham, taking place at the Lexington Country Club courts, was RC’s first home contest of the season. It was closer than the Wildcats’ matches against the Eagles last year, which ER won 8-1 and 9-0.
On the warm and windy afternoon, the Eagles won the first four singles matches, but Wildcats Campbell Bond and Diya Gandhi came through with victories at the final two spots. Bond earned an 8-3 win at No. 5, and Gandhi captured an 8-4 victory at No. 6. Later, Bond and Gandhi teamed up at No. 3 doubles to win 8-4.
“They took care of business,” said RC coach Mark Sholes of Bond and Gandhi.
The Wildcats also had a competitive match at No. 1 doubles, with Corinna Allen and Julia Newhall falling 8-6.
Reviewing his team’s performances, Sholes said, “I was happy with the way they played.”
Traveling to face a strong Harrisonburg team on Tuesday of last week, the Wildcats lost 9-0. The only close match of the day was at No. 1 doubles, where Allen and Newhall came up short 9-7. “Corinna and Julia played very well,” said Sholes.
With the win, Harrisonburg improved to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the district.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to district rival Turner Ashby yesterday before visiting Staunton today, Wednesday. They’ll return to district action at Rocktown on Friday before visiting TA on Monday, and they’ll have a district home match against Broadway on Tuesday. All matches are scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.
The Parry McCluer High School girls tennis team was scheduled to play host to Pioneer District rival Bath County on Tuesday of last week, but that match was postponed following rain last Monday and Tuesday and has been rescheduled for Monday, May 12, at the Southern Virginia University courts.
Today, Wednesday, the Fighting Blues (2-1) will play a nondistrict match at Nelson County at 4:30 p.m. and will visit Altavista on Monday at 5 p.m. The Blues’ next home match is scheduled to take place against Altavista next Wednesday, April 30, at 5:30 p.m. at the SVU courts.
ER 6, RC 3
SINGLES –Alliyah McNair (ER) d. Corinna Allen (RC) 8-4; Kaylee Hatton (ER) d. Julia Newhall (RC) 8-5; Nora Fox (ER) d. Eleanor Goodhart (RC) 8-2; Trinity Gray (ER) d. Ava Crocker (RC) 8-3; Campbell Bond (RC) d. Julianna Kibler (ER) 8-3; Diya Gandhi (RC) d. Abriana Robles (ER) 8-4.
DOUBLES –McNair and Hatton (ER) d. Allen and Newhall (RC) 8-6; Fox and Gray (ER) d. Goodhart and Crocker (RC) 8-2; Bond and Gandhi (RC) d. Kibler and Lilly Campbell (ER) 8-4.
HHS 9, RC 0
SINGLES – Veronica Gutierrez (H) d. Allen (RC) 8-1; Macy Waid (H) d. Julia Newhall (RC) 8-2; Evelyn Lewis (H) d. Goodhart (RC) 8-0; Sequoia Hall (H) d. Bond (RC) 8-0; Nora Von Rotz (H) d. Gandhi (RC) 8-1; Phoenix Seidel (H) d. Jade Newhall (RC) 8-3.
DOUBLES –Gutierrez and Hall (H) d. Allen and Julia Newhall (RC) 9-7; Waid and Lewis (H) d. Goodhart and Bond (RC) 8-0; Von Rotz and Annie Snow (H) d. Gandhi and Keely Newman (RC) 8-0.
