The Central Mountain Wildcats defeated Jersey Shore 3-2 on Monday afternoon. Despite the dreary weather, the matches started with high hopes from both sides. The girls all looked eager to be on the court and play, and the coaches stood at the gates and watched the matches begin to play out.

“We always look for growth,” said Central Mountain coach Pete Wert. “That’s what these girls are doing — they’re improving all the time.”

The first doubles match — Ellie Gundy and Bree Weaver for Central Mountain versus Rahel Hartman and Breanna Porter for Jersey Shore — was the most consistent match of them all.

Hartman and Porter both fought hard for their points, but in the end Central Mountain was victorious with both sets ending in a score of 6-4.

The second doubles match of the night — Catie Lugg and Ellie Harry for Central Mountain versus Anna Lanks and Jaymison Stellfox for Jersey Shore — were close sets. Jersey Shore took victory with scores of 6-3, 6-4, respectively.

The first singles match between Central Mountain’s Claire Long and Jersey Shore’s Peyton Dincher resulted in another win for Jersey Shore. Though Claire fought hard and played well, Dincher clearly came to blow away the competition and she delivered with final scores of 6-2 and 6-1.

Central Mountain’s second victory of the night came from the match between Central Mountain’s Teresa Temple and Jersey Shore’s Ella Gerst.

Though both of the girls played hard, Temple won both sets with scores of 6-3 and 6-4.

Temple was quick to encourage fellow players, saying, “never give up with anything you’re doing. You have to always stay positive. My coach always tells me to take it one point at a time — just because you think you’re going to lose and you’re nervous doesn’t mean you should be defeated.”

With these matches completed, it all came down to the final match of the night between Central Mountain’s Zeta Blesh and Jersey Shore’s Celia Shemory.

The first set finished with a score of 7-5 in favor of Blesh, but Shemony wasn’t discouraged. She kept a great pace and put up a good fight. The girls never let up in their playing, setting up a good volley as the crowd hung on their every movement.

As the last match of the night ended, with the final score 6-4 in favor of Central Mountain, the coaches made their way onto the court to congratulate the girls on a hard fought match.

Blesh was excited about her win, admitting that she was incredibly nervous at the start of the match. She felt as though in this match she hit her shots better and more consistently than she’d done in the past.

“It’s really a mental game,” she said. “Keeping your head in it makes all the difference. You can’t get down on yourself, just have to play it out.”