Despite some early rust, the girls were able to quickly shake that off, and many finished their matches going away. None were more impressive than Combs, who battled from way behind to steal the first set off Ferrin.
“We got off to a shaky start, falling behind in several of the singles matches out of the gate. Once we had shaken the rust off, we cruised in several matches, and came back to take control of the others,” Zehr said. “Ventling and Vander Pol absolutely cruised in singles, dropping only the occasional point or game or there. Caitlin was down big in her first set, but she made some adjustments and came back, winning 9 of the next 10 games to take the match.”
Also despite a dominating first set, Mapes found herself in a hole in her second set against Beaty, but like most of her teammates she was able to climb out of that as well.
“Krystal was rolling, when she found herself down 4-5 in the second,” Zehr said. “She was able to force the tiebreaker, and made a couple adjustments to take the tiebreaker and the match.”
On the doubles ladder, the Cardinals rolled through three of their matches and had another two gritty victories.
Camp/Klyn defeated Faircloth/Wenk 6-1, 6-0. Venting/Vander Pol beat Kelehan/Rachey 6-4,6-3. Combs/Mapes beat Ferrin/Beaty 7-5, 6-1. Kate Hinshaw and Monica Corso cruised by the Bobcats’ Samantha Tocheri and Ellen Podhsjsky 6-2, 6-1. Finally, Sidney Griffith/Felicia Fischer beat Yelitza Patricio/Megan Riemenschneider 3-6, 6-3, 1(6).
“Needing only one victory in doubles, the No. 4 doubles team of Hinshaw/Corso won their match in less than 20 minutes, quickly sealing the team victory,” Zehr said. “Camp/Klyn destroyed the very talented duo of Faircloth/Wenk, winning 51 of the 73 total points played, and dropping only one game. Griffith/Fischer regrouped from dropping the first set to force a third set match tiebreaker, and eventually pulled it out.”
Zehr was very pleased with his team’s competitiveness coming right out of the gate as they look to keep this momentum charging forward.
“It was really cold and fairly windy, but the girls played hard and smart, and took care of business,” Zehr said. “The first meet is never easy, there are always lots of unknown slip ups and mistakes, but they did a great job facing adversity and doing their jobs. We face a big challenge on Thursday in Boone, but we are eager to keep this season going.”
The Cardinals next meet will be in Boone on Thursday. Their first home meet is next Tuesday vs. North Polk at 4:15 p.m.