Jacki Ginnings pulled double duty Thursday, playing in two matches as the Wolves swept host Klahowya. (John Fisken photos)
Bree Daigneault (left) and Haleigh Deasy made their varsity debuts, both winning.
Ernie Banks would have been proud.
Getting a rare chance to embrace the mantra of the Chicago Cubs legend — “It’s a beautiful day for a game. Let’s play two!” — the Coupeville High School girls’ tennis squad swatted host Klahowya twice Thursday.
The 6-1 and 5-2 wins (the first was to make up for a rain-out) lifted Coupeville to 9-3 overall and a flawless 4-0 in Olympic League play.
Now winners of eight straight matches, the Wolves are just a win over Chimacum away from earning the school its second league title of the 2014-2015 school year.
They would follow in the footsteps of the CHS girls’ basketball program, which went 9-0.
Two Wolves, senior Wynter Thorne and junior McKenzie Bailey, played for both teams.
With the need to get two matches in, the coaches agreed to shorten play to pro sets and skip JV play.
Which didn’t mean the Wolf JV players didn’t see action, as two of them made their varsity debuts, both winning.
The first match of the day was half finished April 21 before rain hit in Coupeville, but two of the Coupeville players who were on court at the time were MIA Thursday, which would have meant forfeits.
Instead, the Klahowya coach offered a compromise and allowed both squads to reset their lineups and start over with matches shortened from the usual best two of three sets format.
“I loved the idea,” said Wolf coach Ken Stange.
MATCH 1:
1st Singles — Jacki Ginnings beat Shania Rose 8-4
Never one to play short matches, Ginnings stayed on the court for a full 90 minutes for one set (the second game went to deuce 12 times), slugging out a win and nabbing Player of the Match honors.
2nd Singles — Valen Trujillo beat Marissa Montano 8-3
3rd Singles — Ana Luvera lost to Allison Burchett 8-4
1st Doubles — Payton Aparicio/Sydney Autio beat Sydney Jackson/Natalie Zimmer 8-2
With Sage Renninger absent, Stange shuffled his top duo, plugging in Autio, who rose to the occasion.
“Sydney was hitting balls so hard that the kids running the track could probably hear the crack of the ball on her racket!”
2nd Doubles — McKenzie Bailey/Wynter Thorne beat Sophia Kovaleskie/Hailey Sargent 8-3
“Wynter and McKenzie were on point today. They dropped the first game, and then assaulted the other team with power and angles. They were quite overwhelming with their heavy shots.”
3rd Doubles — Ivy Luvera/Jazmine Franklin beat Maddy Rienks/Marianne Marker 8-1
4th Doubles — Mckenzie Meyer/Bree Daigneault beat Sarah Ackerman/Desi Watts 8-1
“This was Bree’s first varsity match of the year, and she won. Ah, I love it when a plan comes together!”
MATCH 2:
1st Singles — Ginnings lost to Montano 8-3
2nd Singles — Trujillo beat Burchett 8-1
3rd Singles — Coupeville wins, no names reported
1st Doubles — Aparicio/Autio lost to Rose/Sargent 8-4
2nd Doubles — Bailey/Franklin beat Zimmer/Kovaleskie 8-2
“McKenzie and Jazmine were on fire! They have played together quite often and they are getting to know each other’s tendencies.
“It’s one of the joys of coaching to watch a pair grow into a single entity. Their unified effort earned them Players of the Match.”
3rd Doubles — Ivy Luvera/Haleigh Deasy beat Rienks/Marker 9-7
“It was Haleigh’s first varsity match of the season, and it was a shootout.
“We got out to an early lead, but Klahowya came back, evening the score at seven apiece. We were able to hold and break serve to win the final two, sealing the match win for the team.”
4th Doubles — Ana Luvera/Daigneault beat Allison Johnson/Brittney Johnson 8-0
“The nice kids from Klahowya couldn’t handle our experience. Ana and Bree were businesslike in their win. I could hardly hear a peep from their court.”
At the end of a long, but successful, afternoon, Stange, a ten-year vet at Coupeville, crossed off another thing from his To-Do list.
“It was a fun day, winning two,” he said. “I’ve never been a part of a tennis doubleheader at CHS.”
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