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ESCANABA -- The Escanaba girls salvaged a split in two tennis matches here Monday.
Esky fell to Ishpeming Westwood 7-1, then did a little experimenting in a 5-3 triumph over Munising.
Sophie Hill and Claire Jaacobsen provided the Eskymos with their lone victory against Westwood, defeating Tessa Burke and Ella Stacy 6-1, 6-4 in No. 1 doubles.
"Today, we had two meets with two very different lineups," Esky coach Chris Ogren said. "The first was against Westwood which might be the best team in the Upper Peninsula this year. The last time we played Westwood we lost 5-3 with several close matches. Today didn't go quite as well. All three matches that we won last time were flipped around and we came out on the losing side. We were able to flip one match around in our favor, however, and ended up losing the match overall.
"The highlight today came at No. 1 doubles where Claire Jacobsen and Sophie Hill played their best tennis of the year. The Westwood No. 1 doubles team is among the best in the U.P., so for Claire and Sophie to beat them as clearly as they did today was truly impressive. If they continue playing like this throughout the rest of the season, there isn't a team in the U.P. they won't be able to beat."
The Eskymos, who won two matches by default against Munising, got a victory from Isabel Perryman at No. 3 singles in a 6-1, 6-0 conquest of Miika Michelson.
"We don't see Munising at our conference tournament or U.P. Finals, so this meet was really about trying to improve," Ogren said. "Rather than playing the typical varsity lineup, we went with our top end jayvee players that fill in for varsity players when we have absences.
"The only player from our typical varsity lineup that played in this meet was Emma Landwehr, who usually plays No. 3 doubles, but in this meet played No. 1 singles. By doing this we were able to have six competitive matches rather than lopsided ones.
"Our first highlight came at No. 3 singles where Isabel Perryman made her singles debut. Izzy was able to earn a 6-1, 6-0 win in this match. She really served well and did a tremendous job keeping the ball in play. The determination that Izzy shows on the court makes me confident that she'll be a fixture in our lineup over the next three years."
Esky's Reese Buckley and Jovie Trapani topped Elliot Dolaskie and Harper Frusti in No. 1 doubles and Everleigh Wilson and Anabel Niswonger took a 6-4, 6-2 decision from Hannah Theodore and Teagan Hall at No. 2.
"Our second highlight came at No. 2 doubles where Reese Buckley and Jovie Trapani were able to win 6-0, 6-3. Reese and Jovie had just filled in on varsity over the weekend and they kept their momentum rolling today. They both looked sharp on the court and did well to dominate at the net.
"Our final highlight came at No. 3 doubles where Anabel Niswonger and Everleigh Wilson were able to earn a 6-4, 6-2 win. Both of these girls played jayvee tennis for the past two years and it was nice to see their hard work pay off with a varsity win. The first set was pretty close, but Anabel and Everleigh stayed calm and were able to deliver the decisive points."
Landwehr dropped a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 decision Kinley Hall in her first singles match at No. 1 and Allison Young bowed to Keira Albright 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 8-10 in No. 2.
Esky's Cecilia Glish and Laura Herioux also dropped a tight match to Ava Prunick and Juliana Smith (4-6, 6-2, 6-4) at No. 3 doubles.
"Although we did lose three matches in this meet today, it's worth noting all three of those losses went to three sets and were tremendously close. Emma, Allison and Cecilia and Laura played really solid tennis today and showed great composure even though they each came up just short."
The Eskymos, who play Marquette at home Tuesday, host Kingsford Thursday.