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| Megan Stivers 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 winner at No. 1 singles (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
Monday night in Bloomington coach Jack Olwell's young team won its second straight dual meet in shutout fashion with a 7-0 non-conference triumph over Bloomington Kennedy.
Not only did the win keep the Tigers unbeaten (2-0) in dual play, it also matched their entire victory total from all last season when they finished 2-13.
"We had a good day at the office on Monday," Olwell said. "I expected a fairly tight match even though we had good luck when we played them in the doubles tournament where they showed they had some good ball strikers."
Three of the four singles matches were straight set sweeps by Ryan Jara, Callie Olmscheid and Molly Rudorfer at the second, third and fourth positions. Megan Stivers had to work a little harder at the No. 1 spot, rallying for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 victory.
"This was a confidence builder for Megan for two reasons," Olwell said. "First, she came back after a tough first set and didn't let a close loss or the prospect of another two potentially grueling sets dissuade her from staying focused and on task.
"Second, she raised the level of her play considerably, hitting as well as she has all year for a sustained stretch. It was fun to watch."
At No. 1 doubles, Clare Padrnos and Lindsey Fairchild lost their first set of the year, but still remained unbeaten with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 win.
The second and third doubles teams of Beth Fairchild/Alyson Kelly and Rachel Rees/Tasha Sinha cruised to straight set wins.
Wednesday the Tigers look to make it two in a row over Bloomington schools when they host Jefferson at the Boeckman Middle School courts.
