FINDLAY – Two matches in two nights translated into six singles-match victories and two more team duel match wins for the Lady Giants tennis team on Monday and Tuesday.
Monday afternoon Ross defeated Bowling Green 3-2 and then the Lady Giants defeated TRAC rival Findlay by the same score Tuesday, both times picking up sweeps from singles players Gillian Gallagher, Lily Abdoo and Berlin Swaisgood.
Gillian Gallagher
At No. 1 singles, Gallagher won on Monday over BG’s Lucy Bussells, 6-2, 6-4, and then rolled Tuesday to a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Findlay’s Lauren Spaeth.
“Gilli was very confident winning her first set and in the second set she was going after things normally she wouldn’t, like approaching the net and thinks like that,” Ross coach Lisa Wolfe said Tuesday night. “She was building her confidence up by practicing what she’s weakest at and she was successful at it. It’s all a confidence-builder. She’s playing very well.”
Abdoo swept Findlay’s Becca Mathews 6-0, 6-0 on Tuesday while defeating Bowling Green’s Willow Wymer 6-0, 6-3 the night before.
“Lily is just Lily. She will just continue to go after every ball,” Wolfe said. “She is a great No. 2 singles player. She runs the ball down, she’s not afraid to attack the net and make her points that way. She’s the spark of the team, definitely.”
At No. 3 singles, Swaisgood has continued her stellar play as well. She won Monday by scored of 6-2, 6-2 over BG’s Leela Cromwell then, after falling behind early Tuesday against Findlay’s Megan Earhart, won in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
Lily Abdoo
“I just trust Berlin,” Wolfe said. “At no. 3 singles, she was down in the first couple of games tonight, and she will do that now and then and, for about 30 seconds, I might feel like, ‘Wow, wrong decision’ or something like that, on the coaching part of it. But then she’ll turn it around and win. She is not about to lose at No. 3 singles, I don’t think. I think that’s what she has in her head.”
Gallagher (4-1), Abdoo (5-0) and Swaisgood (4-0) are a combined 13-1 in singles matches this season, Their success has been essential to Ross’ team success as the Lady Giant doubles teams, excluding the three of them, are a combined 2-7.
Coming into the season, Wolfe knew Ross would be dependent on the singles portion of its lineup for duel match victories, but she did not anticipate the Lady Giants posting a 6-0 overall record and a 2-0 mark in the TRAC.
But, she knows that level of success can’t continue without some improvement from the doubles’ end of the court.
Berlin Swaisgood
“Nothing is given, definitely, and I certainly didn’t anticipate this much success,” she said. “So far, I think I’ve tried every possible combination of (doubles pairs) and I still haven’t found anything to make me go ‘Wow, that’s it.’ They need to work on a lot of different things and be more coachable.”
The Lady Giants travel to Oak Harbor Wednesday for a 4 p.m. match.
Tuesday
Fremont Ross 3, Findlay 2
No. 1 singles: Gillian Gallagher (FR) def. Lauren Spaeth, 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 singles: Lily Abdoo (FR) def. Becca Mathews, 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 singles: Berlin Swaisgood (FR) def. Megan Earhart, 6-4, 6-1
No. 1 doubles: Katelynn Coleman/Kaylor Stocker (F) def. Sophia Biggins/Emma Jahns, 6-3, 6-0
No. 2 doubles: Maggie McGhee/Izzy Zalat (F) def. Vivyanna Esquivel/Izzy Atkinson, 6-4, 6-2
Monday
Fremont Ross 3, Bowling Green 2
No. 1 singles: Gillian Gallagher (FR) def. Lucy Bussells, 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 singles: Lily Abdoo (FR) def. Willow Wymer, 6-0, 6-3
No. 3 singles: Berlin Swaisgood (FR) def. Leela Cromwell, 6-2, 6-2
No. 1 doubles: Faith Zhang/Quinn Beeker (BG) def. Sophia Biggins/ Vivyanna Esquivel, 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 doubles: Maddie Harrington/Jenna Sickler (BG) def. Emma Jahns/Lillie Swinehart, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
Ross Record: 6-0 overall, 2-0 TRAC