May 1, 2008
Court drama for Rams in Greenwich
|
It’s been nearly a season and a half that Gail Overbeck has had to watch Tina Tehrani in action. And it seems that every time out on the tennis courts, Tehrani does something more to impress her head coach.
Last Tuesday when the Rams’ girls’ tennis team played in Ridgefield, Tehrani went up against one of the State’s better players in Rachel Janasek. Tehrani has been battling an injury but tore through Janasek without a problem, 6-0, 6-2.
Injury or not, Overbeck was in awe of the performance of the sophomore.
“She’s got every shot in the book — a drop shot to kill, the underspin, the top spin,” Overbeck said. “Janasek hits with so much power and to beat her 6-0 is just amazing.
“I was so proud that Tina could pull it through and hang in there because the minute she came off, she needs to ice and everything.”
Tehrani’s victory over Janasek highlighted a week in which New Canaan swept through three road matches, beating the Tigers 5-2, the Norwalk Bears, 7-0 on Wednesday, and the Staples Wreckers 5-2 on Thursday.
The Rams have two doubles teams at 8-0: Senior co-captain Sara Willett and sophomore Alyssa Baker at No. 1, and seniors Kasey Newton, a co-captain, and Mer Barcia, at No. 2.
Two freshmen, Kate Mannelly and Caitlin Gallagher are 7-1 each in singles, and junior Lauren Ambler is above the .500 mark at 4-3 while sliding back and forth between No. 2 and No. 1 singles.
With an 8-0 team record, it seems to be nothing but blue skies and sunny days for the Rams, as they head over to Greenwich to take a crack at the defending FCIAC champion Cardinals today, Thursday, at 4 p.m. The teams met in last year’s conference final with Greenwich winning 5-2.
“The other coaches say that you can almost pencil us in at this stage,” Overbeck said. “It does go in peaks and valleys, but right now, we’ve been pretty strong and they’ve been pretty strong, so now we get to go head to head.”
The only dark cloud hanging over the Rams right now is the status of Tehrani, whose injury had her sidelined against Norwalk and Staples last week. Her status for the Greenwich match is up in the air.
One of the Rams’ strongest points this season has been in doubles, as the top two teams were undefeated through eight matches.
One team, Willett and Baker, is a new combo, while Newton and Barcia are in their third season together.
“I saw the instincts that Baker has so it made sense to put her up with Sara when Sara went back to doubles,” Overbeck said. “They’ve worked really well together. They’re solid players and they have everything. They’re both good from the back court and they both volley pretty well. I think against the Greenwich team that won the State championship last year, I think they’ll give them a dogfight.
“Mer and Kacey were together last year so that was a normal thing and they’ve been playing great, too. They mesh together and they know what the other one’s going to. They’re a good fit.”
New Canaan and Ridgefield split the singles matches with the Rams getting points at No. 1 with Tehrani, and No. 3 with Mannelly, who beat Jennifer Geltzeiller 6-1, 6-0.
Ridgefield’s wins came at No. 2, where Carlie Sanderude defeated Ambler 6-3, 6-2; and at No. 4, where Terri Green defeated Gallagher 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
In doubles, it was a Ram sweep as Willett and Baker defeated Megan Crystal and Lauren Brucato 6-0, 6-0; Newton and Barcia defeated Prometa Ghosh and Kelsey Brazill 6-0, 6-2; and junior Katie DeWaele and freshman Kim Glerum defeated Sasha Nicotella and Julie Petiford 6-0, 6-1.
New Canaan only lost three games while making quick work of Norwalk. In singles, Mannelly played at No. 1 and won 6-0, 6-1, and Gallagher was at No. 2 and won 6-1, 6-0. Junior Jen Popper and Glerum were in the next two spots and each won 6-0, 6-0.
In doubles, both the No. 1 and 2 teams won 6-0, 6-0, while DeWaele and junior Bri O’Haver won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3.
Against Staples, Mannelly and Gallagher won at No. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Mannelly defeated Nina Levine 6-1, 6-1 and Gallagher defeated Sarah McNee 6-1, 6-2.
Staples picked up two points at No. 1 singles, where Caroline Stamm defeated Ambler 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, and at No. 4 singles, where Ella Gaskell defeated DeWaele 6-0, 6-2.
In doubles, Willett and Baker were 6-2, 6-1 winners over Annie DeKraker and Bette Warshaw; and Newton and Barcia were 6-0, 6-1 winners over Stephanie Gandelman and Molly Laux.
At No. 3 doubles, Popper and Glerum needed three sets to knock off Farrell Levenson and Brittany Haffner 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
|
