Tennis teams roll over Evangel in second conference meeting
Both teams beat Evangel 6-1, both starting the KCAC campaign 2-0.
The Thresher tennis teams took on their second conference matchup of this season defeating the Evangel Valor in Evanglel’s first-ever conference trip up to Ward Tennis Center. Both teams beat the Valor 6-1.
On the women's side, Bethel came out taking the doubles point in all three doubles matchups with Daniela Casique and Halle Krehbiel winning at the #1 spot 6-4, Nalea Payton and Patty Huerta at the #2 spot 6-0, and Grace Dawes and Charis Yager at the #3 6-0.
In singles, the dominance continued as all except for one Thresher came away with the victory. Casique won at #1 7-6(3), 6-1. Dawes lost in a close one, at #2 3-6, 7-5, 5-10. Krehbiel won 6-2, 6-2 at the #3 spot. Jenna Mahoney won the clinching point at #4 singles 6-1, 6-0. Payton won 6-0, 6-0 at #5. Lastly, at #6, Huerta won 6-1, 6-3.
“The match went really well,” said Payton from El Dorado. “I think we all gave maximal effort and adapted well to our opponent’s play styles. For my match, I was able to win by hitting confidently and using variety.”
On the men's side, the Threshers also came out strong to start the match winning all three doubles matches with Michael Cech and Milan Bucek 6-4 at #1, Tomas Quercia and Petr Kollar 6-4 at #2, and Rodrigo Sanchez and Jonah Bergeron 6-2 at #3.
In singles, the Threshers stayed on top, winning all but one as well. Bucek won 6-3, 6-2 at the #1 spot. At the #2 spot, Cech won 6-3, 6-1. Quercia won 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(1) in a close match at #3. At #4 Kollar won 6-1, 6-2. Sanchez won 6-3, 6-0 at #5. Bergeron fell at the #6 spot 1-6, 6-7(3) in another close match.
“It was a great team win,” said Quercia from Buenos Aires, Argentina. “After beating Tabor in a weird match because of the high winds and different balls, I think we really wanted to win as a team again on Saturday. I really believe that our energy can still improve as well as our level but I think we had to go out and compete to win this last match against Evangel. Now is the time to leave that in the past and focus on training this week to prepare to play three really competitive duals this next week.”
The main focus for both teams this season has been to keep consistent energy throughout the whole match while competing well.
“I thought both teams came out and competed well from the very first point,” head coach Gabe Johnson said. “That was an emphasis we made this week that we wanted to come out with confidence from the very start of the match and I thought both teams did that really well and that's why we're able to come away with a doubles point on both sides. Going into singles again we were tested at the top of the lineup and we responded well.”
That gave everyone on the court confidence for the rest of the match and we were able to come away with two 6-1 victories on both sides, so I’m really pleased with how we competed and played on Saturday and supported one another. I think we've got a good shot going into next week to carry on the momentum we've created at the start of conference play.”
The Threshers will be back in action this Thursday in Wichita against conference rival Friends with first serve slated for 3 p.m. Then on Saturday both teams will take the trip south to Winfield to take on Southwestern at 10 a.m.