(Chelsea Update would like to thank Matt Pedlow for the information in this story.)
Slideshow by Burrill Strong
Chelsea girls’ varsity tennis may have logged a 5-3 “L” in the record books on April 25 against perennial powerhouse and divisional foe in Flint Powers, but the tennis on both sides of the net was high quality.
Emma Catalina played a great match at 3 singles, forcing her opponent into a 2nd set tiebreak but came up short, coach Matt Pedlow said.
“Emma played a very strategic match, she’s one of our smartest players out there. Emma figures out weaknesses in her opponents and uses that to her advantage. I really felt if she forced a 3rd set she would pull out the win,” Pedlow said.
The 1, 2, and 3 doubles all played 3-set matches.
At 1 doubles, Kendall Tucker and Morgan Moore lost a very close match 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. I thought both Kendall and Morgan played a great 2nd set but Flint Powers seemed to regain the momentum early in the 3rd to close out the match.
At 2 doubles, Maddie Pedlow and Julia Schachinger won 7-5, 0-6, and 6-4. “Maddie played her best match of the year, she covered the court well and hit some winners that really frustrated the other team. Julia was very aggressive at net and forced Flint Powers to hit around her throughout the match,” Pedlow said.
The 3 doubles team of Madisen Chinavare and Madelynn O’Hara won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. After a rough start, the girls figured out what they needed to do to win games, and started stringing games together to pull ahead, the coach said.
“Madisen has stepped up big this season, she’s hitting incredibly well and O’Hara played with some aggression. She sometimes plays “too nice” so it was good to see her finish points today. Great match for these two.”
Corrine Dale and Gretchen Kuras both played outstanding and won 6-1, 7-5 to remain undefeated this season.
“The two of them are still figuring each other out, but they make a nice doubles team. As coaches, we know the potential these two have and today they certainly showed that against a good Flint Powers team,” Pedlow said.
“Overall, I was thrilled with the level of play from our team. Flint Powers is a dominant team in Division 3 and we also face them in our regional tournament. They are well coached, disciplined players, so it was good to see us pick up a few flights from them. “
Chelsea continues play with a quad this weekend that features three Catholic schools, including Greenhills, a team that’s ranked No. 1 in Division 4.
