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Montoursville fall at home to Danville in girls tennis

EVAN WHEATON/Sun-Gazette Montoursville’s Erin Deljanovan competes at No. 1 doubles on Monday.

By EVAN WHEATON

ewheaton@sungazette.com

Kara Mana wasn’t rattled after losing her first No. 1 singles set 6-0 to Danville’s Sarah Bhanushah. Mana had to reel it in, switch things up and settle into another style on the court.

“I just thought that it was a different type of play. I tried to get the ball back more instead of trying to hit the ball harder like I usually play,” Mana said. “It was a really different game, but I just tried to change up my style.”

It’s safe to say it worked.

Mana rallied back 6-1, and 6-2 to get the Warriors into the win column. It was the only one for Montoursville girls tennis on Monday, as the Warriors fell 4-1 at home.

No. 3 singles was a tight contest between Katelyn Good and Ella Dewald. Good fell, 7-5 and 6-4 while Alaina Marchioni was blanked 6-0, 6-0 by Cara Bohner in No. 2 singles.

“It was close, could’ve gone either way there for a little bit. The three singles and two doubles were right on the verge of winning their matches basically,” Montoursville coach Shawn Gardner said. “… They’re a strong team, seemed to want it more, maybe, but we’re rebuilding, and I think it’s just a rebuilding year. Not a lot of experience on our team yet.”

The Ironmen (7-1) were given a battle in No. 2 doubles. Once Amelia Benjamin and Maya Hasenblag took the first set 6-2, Randi McKenna and Paige Kemmerer forced a third set for the Warriors (3-6) with a 6-4 win. From there, Benjamin and Hasenblag retaliated and grinded out a 7-5 win to take the third set.

Montoursville came in looking to flip the script against Danville, having lost to the Ironmen 3-2 in its season opener. Despite the wider margin of team score for Danville this time around, Gardner said there was progress in this years’ squad, having been a more competitive outing.

“I think we did better. The first time we played them, the lineup was a bit different. Still, they have a strong team, pretty deep,” Gardner said. “We got much further, got a couple three-setters in doubles and singles.”

Mana echoed those thoughts.

“I was hoping we’d do better. We’re a really young team, so I feel we have a lot to build on,” Mana said. “But I feel we keep improving a little bit, even though it was a tough loss today.”

Kyra Welliver and Mehak Kotru took the first set of No. 1 doubles handedly 6-1, though had to fight to close out the second set 7-5 over Erin Deljanovan and Jill Stone.

SINGLES

1, Kara Mana, M, def. Sarah Bhanushah, 0-6, 6-1, 6-2; 2, Cara Bohne, D, def. Alaina Marchioni, 6-0, 6-0; 3, Ella Dewald, D, def. Katelyn Good, 7-5, 6-4.

DOUBLES

1, Kyra Welliver/Mehak Kotru, D, def. Erin Deljanovan/Jill Stone, 6-1, 7-5; 2, Amelia Benjamin/Maya Hasenblag, D, def. Randi McKenna/Paige Kemmerer, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

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