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NORWAY and ESCANABA -- The Escanaba girls tennis team picked up two wins recently, a 7-0 victory over Norway in Norway Thursday and a 6-2 win over West Iron County at home Wednesday.
The Eskymos picked up the sweep on the road and without a No. 4 doubles match.
"We had a nice trip to Norway today," Escanaba coach Chris Ogren said. "Norway only had 10 players to play today, so we didn't play No. 4 doubles. We gave some of our top players the day off today and let some of our players that are often just out of the lineup play instead. We had a very successful day overall, and I saw quite a bit of improvement from many of our players."
The switched-up roster enabled Esky freshman Brooklyn Hackleman to play her first varsity match and earn a win.
"The most competitive match of the day came from our No. 4 singles player, Brooklyn Hackleman," Ogren said. "Brooklyn is a freshman, and this was her first time ever playing in a varsity match. She was able to win a really close first set due to her superb ball striking and her patience. She then really hit her stride in the second set and was able to win much more easily. This was Brooklyn's first varsity win, but it certainly won't be her last. I'm excited to see how her abilities will grow throughout her Esymo tennis career."
Esky ended its eight-day rest period with a win against West Iron County Wednesday.
"After eight consecutive days without a tennis match, it was nice to get back out and play against another team," Ogren said.
Esky's Sonya Maki dropped a match to West Iron County's Seanna Stine, but that's not to say that it wasn't competitive.
"The most competitive singles match today came at No. 2 singles where Sonya Maki lost a really close match," Ogren said. "She played solid tennis all day, but her opponent, Seanna Stine, was rock solid too. Sonya is one of the most coachable players I have on the team, so it is always nice to see her make adjustments within a match. She'll try any strategy I give her, and she'll try to hit the shots that she knows she needs to be able to hit. It didn't result in a win today, but it did result in good tennis. I would imagine these two will meet again in the future, and I like Sonya's chances in their next matchup."
On the doubles side, Esky's only loss came at No. 3 doubles, where Esky's Isy Braun and Sophia Wagner lost a close match to Bailey Hoffart and Aubrey Richardson.
"I didn't get to see much of the doubles today, but the scores show just how competitive the matches were," Ogren said. "Leslie Purcell and Sam Manninen were able to bounce back after dropping the second set to pull off their second consecutive 3-set victory. Carly Bowden and Val Royer were able able to win two really close sets and pull out an impressive win against a very good No. 4 doubles team for West Iron."
Escanaba travels to Kingsford for an invitational today.
V. Norway
Singles
No. 1 -- Maki, E, def. VanHolla, 6-3, 6-1; No. 2 -- VanDamme, E, def. Tobey, 6-0, 6-0; No. 3 -- Martin, E, def. Powell, 6-1, 6-2; No. 4 -- Hackleman, E, def. Hunter, 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Braun-Wagner, E, def. Cavagnetto-Dube, 6-1, 6-2; No. 2 -- Bowden-Smale, E, def. Wojtowicz, 6-0, 6-2; No. 3 -- Royer-Boutilier, E, def. Crawford-Proctor, 6-0, 6-0
V. WIC
Singles
No. 1 -- Derkos, E, def. Bice, 6-1, 6-2; No. 2 -- Stine, W, def. Maki, 7-6(3), 7-5; No. 3 -- VanDamme, E, def. Hansen, 6-0, 6-1; No. 4 -- Martin, E, def. Bett, 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 -- McIntyre-Willians, E, def. Bortolameolli-Schmutzler, 6-4, 6-2; No. 2 -- Purcell-Manninen, E, def. A. Smith-K. Smith, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; No. 3 -- Hoffart-Richardson, W, def. Braun-Wagner, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(4); No. 4 -- Bowden-Royer, E, def. Lemery-Lamay, 7-5, 7-6(1)