FREMONT – Tennis karma has returned the favor to Sophia Biggins.
Berlin Swaisgood (serving) and Sophia Biggins, (near) practice Monday for the district tournament, beginning Wednesday. Main photo courtesy of Lisa Wolfe.
A year ago, with a glut of seniors and juniors all competitive with one another, Ross tennis coach Lisa Wolfe was left in a pickle deciding who to submit for the sectional tournament.
Biggins, then a junior, had played all season at the varsity level volunteered to forgo the season-ending tournament to allow senior Jurni Kidd, who began the year on junior varsity before her play earned her a regular spot on varsity, to finish her career in the sectional.
“Sophia said, ‘Coach let (Jurni) go to sectionals, she’s the senor, she deserves to,’” Wolfe recalled. “Sophia stepped down and wanted the senior to go and I told Sophia, ‘Good things come back to you.’”
A year later, Biggins and her doubles partner, and best friend, Berlin Swaisgood have made it out of sectionals and qualified for the district tournament, beginning Wednesday morning at Bowling Green State University.
For Biggins, while playing in the district tournament is gratifying, neither she nor Swaisgood are overly surprised to still be playing.
Coach Lisa Wolfe talks to Sophia Biggins, left, and Berlin Swaisgood, right, during practice Monday.
“I thought it was possible,” Biggins said. “It feels good. I don’t want it to end.”
While Swaisgood spent much of her season slotted at No. 3 singles for the Lady Giants, Biggins was Ross’ lone senior to play exclusively at doubles all year, with a rotating cast of partners. While Biggins enjoyed a solid, successful season, accumulating a season record of 16-10, being reunited with Swaisgood is a fitting way for the duo to close out their careers.
“I feel like everybody on the team that I played with worked with me well. They did what they could do,” Biggins said. “I’m more comfortable. She’s the only one who’s really close that matches with how I play. It’s nice to play with somebody who we’ve played together for more than just this year.”
Swaisgood compiled a 13-5 doubles record this season and was a perfect 12-0 in singles matches. Much of her season she spent rallying back from slow first-set starts where she’s often trail by multiple games before storming back to taking over the match.
Berlin Swaisgood returns a shot in practice Monday.
“I think I work really good under pressure,” Swaisgood said. “And I don’t like to lose, I get to that point where it’s ‘You either get on top now or you’re going to lose.’”
Combined, Biggins and Swaisgood have a record of 11-3 playing together, a 3-0 at No. 1 doubles, 4-1 at No. 2 doubles and 4-2 in tournaments. Because they share a close friendship off the court, Swaisgood said that closeness transfers over to the court.
“We don’t get down on each other, we keep each other up,” she said. “And even if we lose, it’s not like we’re going to be mad or upset with each other. It’s just fun. It’s a fun experience to have with each other. We have good communication, we know where each other is going to move on the court and how we play.”
The Lady Giants entered the sectional tournament as a No. 3 seed, earning a first-round bye. They then won their first match of the tournament, defeating Ashland’s team of Chloe Watson and Maddie Moore, 6-4, 6-4, earning a place in the district tournament.
They then lost in the sectional semifinal and consolation match, both to strong doubles teams from Norwalk. While those matches appeared lopsided, Biggins and Swaisgood didn’t win more than two games in any set, Wolfe said the matches were closer than the score indicated.
Sophia Biggins makes a shot during practice Monday.
“I can’t even tell you how many deuces in those games at sectionals they ended up losing,” Wolfe said. “When you get to deuce you have to really pep it up, you have to get the ad-in and the game and that’s what I saw lacking right there.
“It was like, ‘Oh we made it to deuce,’ and they could have made it from love-40 and got it to deuce, but they couldn’t complete those two points to make the game.”
The Lady Giants, a No. 4 seed at the district, will face the No. 1 seeded Perrysburg team of Gemma Smith and Kyleigh Henthorn. The tournament begins Wednesday at 10 a.m.