BY JOHN DUBOIS
Commercial-News
DANVILLE —
Danville Lady Vikings assistant tennis coach Kathy Simpson felt the Vikings’ recent win at the Pekin tournament showed the steady progress the program has made over the last three seasons.
Playing at home for the first time this season, the Vikings took another step forward Tuesday with 9-0 sweep of a dual meet with the Mattoon Green Wave.
“We are a really deep team up and down our lineup,” said head coach Scott Simpson. “In fact, our 7-8-9 singles players this year played at 4-5-6 for us last year.
“We were down in four of the six matches and were able to come back and win. The girls didn’t give up and didn’t get rattled.
“Mattoon will be one of the better teams in the Big 12 when they are at all full strength and we will see them again in conference so this was a very big win for us.”
Leading the way at No. 1 singles was senior co-captain Emma Peck, who won her match 6-1, 6-1.
“It was a nice way to start the season at the tournament and I was able to carry that over to today,” Peck said. “The wind was pretty harsh and you had to adjust by hitting the ball softer or harder depending on what side you were on.”
Scott Simpson said Peck plays a key role with so many young players on the team.
“Emma provides good senior leadership and most teams have really good No. 1 players, so every time out she is facing the opponents’ best,” he said. “She is a very patient player, moves well, and can run down the ball. She is good defensive player who is learning the right spots to go on offense.”
Freshman Rachael Lewis was down 4-3 in both of her sets but won her match 6-4, 6-4.
“I never seem to play real well the first two games in a set then I’m able to come back,” Lewis said. “It was a great match and my opponent was so nice.
“Scott tells us if the wind is your enemy you will probably lose and I think it helped me on both my drop shots and my long shots. Everyone on the team is so nice and we are having a lot of fun.”
Simpson was impressed with Lewis’s comeback.
“This was her first Big 12 meet and she handled a lot of adversity coming back,” he said. “It shows how mentally tough she is on the court.”
Fellow freshman Amy Shah won her match at No. 3 singles 6-1, 6-1 to push her overall varsity record to 8-1.
“The wind was blowing really hard and affected the ball,” she said. “You would think it would come one way then it would spin off the other way. I tried to not swing as hard.”
“She just doesn’t miss the ball and it wears down her opponents,” Simpson said. “She had a great win at Moline earlier this year and just keeps on winning.”
Coming off what Simpson called a great tournament win at Pekin, senior co-captain Bethany Sexton won her match 6-1, 6-4.
“Thinking about the success at the tournament helped me today,” she said. “We played in the wind there to and that also helped. It was important for me to start off aggressive and play my favorite shots.”
At No. 5 singles, freshman Neha Patel won 6-0, 6-4 and said she was happy with her fast start because it took the pressure off in the second set.
“This was her first varsity singles match,” Simpson said. “She showed a lot of toughness, came back and won.”
Sophomore Courtney Hart completed the singles wins with a hard fought 6-4, 7-5 win.
“Every match Courtney plays seems to be close,” Simpson said. “She plays a lot of tie-breakers and long points and always seems to be the last off the court.”
At No. 1 doubles, Peck and Sexton won 6-2, 6-3, at No. 2, Lewis and Hart won 6-4, 6-3, and to complete the sweep Stephanie Rollins and Carrie Zillman won 6-2, 6-2.
The Vikings will stay at home and return to action Thursday with a dual meet against Rantoul.
