After falling in its first two matches to open the 2012 season, the San Benito girls tennis squad hasn’t tasted a loss in five-consecutive matches, including Tuesday’s 6-1 win over former league opponent North Salinas.
At the Ridgemark Tennis Center on Tuesday, San Benito’s top players won with ease, giving the team a much needed rest for Thursday’s league opener against Monterey.
Both No. 1 singles player Audrey Marshall and No. 2 player Ally Triolo won in straight sets, setting a winning tone for the Balers.
Marshall opened the day with a dominant showing over the Vikings Kelly Muemura, winning 6-0, 6-0. Marshall controlled the pace of play, beating Muemura on a variety of shots, both hard and soft.
“It’s always nice to win a match with a clean sweep,” Marshall said. “But it helps you definitely in thinking what you did. The least amount of time on the court is always a good thing – finish them as quick as possible.”
Triolo had just as strong of win for San Benito, winning 6-2, 6-0 over North Salinas’ Dakota Gulick. Like Marshall, Triolo controlled the match from the beginning, rarely falling behind. But despite the easy win, Triolo did have a hard time creating her own pace, she said.
“Yeah, what I find is a challenge is playing my game,” Triolo said. “Sometimes when you play a player that is a little lower than you, you tend to sink down and not hit as hard. But it’s also good because you get to practice your shots and take more risk because you feel there is that cushion there.”
For both of the Balers’ top players it worked out fine.
San Benito completed the victory by sweeping the double pairs and winning the No. 3 singles match. Kelsey Slavich, the only non-senior singles player, continued her strong start, winning 6-3, 6-2.
The No. 1 doubles team of Annie Tobias and Gianna Brigantino rolled to 6-0, 6-0 sweep over the Vikings to highlight the double pairs. Berenice Bribiesca and Cathy Frusetta also played well, winning 6-1, 6-0. Rachel Logue and Rachel Brigantino rounded out the Balers’ doubles sweep by winning 6-3, 6-2.
Overall, it was a strong non-league victory for San Benito, head coach Ed Cecena said.
“I’m seeing a lot of improvement first of all,” he said. “The girls are learning how to manage the match a little better. The first two matches when they were playing against really good competition, they were a little shell shocked. Now, they are learning to control their emotions a little more on the court and you can see it in the scores. I’m happy about that.”
The improvement in even more noticeable for the younger girls, Cecena said.
“It’s good see the lower part of the ladder wining,” he said. “It gives them confidence and, hopefully, they will do their part in matches. We have all the confidence in the world in our single players.”
And after a slow start, their confidence is building.
“We’ve played some hard schools and we stood up against them pretty well,” Triolo said. “They are schools that are good. So we’ve achieved our matches against those schools and now we are playing the lesser schools. It’s good because it’s boosting our confidence before the season actually starts. It helps our skills.”
The Balers’ week started Monday with a 7-0 sweep over Gilroy High. Marshall won in 6-0, 6-1 sets to lead San Benito, which did not lose a set throughout the day.
Triolo and Slavich each won 6-1, 6-1. No. 4 singles player Kiley Fontaine won 6-4, 6-1. Doubles partners Tobias and Brigantino won 6-0, 6-3. Bribiesca and Cathy Frusetta also won 6-0, 6-2. And the No. 3 doubles partners Logue and Gwen Fernstrom finished off the sweep with a 6-0, 6-0 victory.
