(Chelsea Update would like to thank Matt Pedlow for the information and the photo in this story.)
The Chelsea girls tennis team won the Chelsea Quad on Saturday, defeating Pinckney, Jackson High, and Haslett.
Chelsea finished the day with 18 points, Haslett had 17, Jackson had 7 points, and Pinckney ended the day with 6 points.
“I knew it would be a battle as all three teams had strong flights, and once the rain ended and we got playing the girls stepped up and played strong,” said coach Matt Pedlow.
Winning flights for Chelsea was Ana Dutenhefner at 1 singles, Kelsey Weinreich at 3 singles, Emma Catalina at 4 singles. Weinreich is just a freshman, so watching her progress this season has been a joy, the coach said, adding, she hits very strong and I’m trying to get her to start mixing up her game.
“She’s very coachable, and I know she’s going to just keep getting better as the year goes on,” Pedlow said.
Catalina played great winning all 3 of her matches. She stays undefeated on the season and I expect her to do very well as we head into regionals later this season, Pedlow said.
The match of the day was at 1 singles where Chelsea defeated a very good Pinckney player in a third set tiebreak. “Ana played her heart out, she was very emotional at the end of the match. She had lost the first set 6-3, but came back and won in a very tight match,” Pedlow said.
“She’s been great to coach this season, I wish she could stay another two years but she’ll be heading back to Brazil at the end of the school year,” the coach said.
In the doubles flights, Pedlow mixed up the 2nd and 3rd doubles and had them play in different flights.
“Both teams played great today, the team of Abby Burris and Gabby Noble just missed a first place finish but lost a third set tiebreak 10-8,” the coach said, adding, “It really doesn’t get any closer, the match could have gone either way but for those two to play 2 dubs for the first time this season proved to be a great experience.”
In 3 doubles, the team of Julia Schechinger and Maddie Pedlow won their flight winning all three of their matches. “Julia’s serve was on today, she proved to be a formidable match for the return of serve. Maddie had a good day finishing points at the net and they really didn’t allow any of the other teams to get too close to winning,” Pedlow said.
At 4 doubles, the team of Corrine Dale and Madison Chinavare won their flight winning all three of their matches as well. They had a very tough match against Haslett, losing the first set in a tie-break, Pedlow said. But they came back and won the 2nd set 6-4 and took the 3rd set tie-breaker.
“Both girls played well today, and in one of their matches they only lost one point in the entire first set. That’s something that is rarely done but they played consistent and kept the ball in play and allowed their opponents to make unforced errors,” the coach said.
Earlier in the season
Last Thursday Chelsea faced Huron, losing 5-3. “This is the best we’ve ever played against Huron and the girls saw some very good tennis, especially from Huron’s 1 and 2 singles,” Pedlow said.
Then Chelsea traveled to Mason and tie them 4-4. The match came down to the 2 doubles team of Pedlow and Schechinger, but they lost a very tight match. “Mason always plays us close, it seems like we always tie them when we play them,” Pedlow said, adding, “They have a well coached team and 3 of our doubles teams and Catalina at 4 singles earned victories, but we just couldn’t pick up the last point for the win.”
Chelsea plays Flint Powers on Wednesday and travels to Sturgis on Saturday for a tournament.
