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MILL HALL-- The last time Central Mountain met up with Shikellamy, on the road in Sunbury, the Wildcats were facing different circumstances. It wasn't senior day and the Wildcats were missing two of its valuable singles players. Without them Central Mountain struggled to pull points together, the match took longer than expected and the Wildcats dropped a nail-biter by one point.
The Wildcats revamped themselves in a rematch on Tuesday afternoon when Central Mountain hosted Shikellamy for the second meeting of the season. Addison Lindsay and Ellie Harry, Central Mountain's two missing players from the earlier matchup during the season, were present and the Wildcats used that to their advantage. The Wildcats cruised to a 5-0 win, sweeping the Braves on senior day in a quick match that took approximately 90 minutes.
"It was a nice turnaround. The first time we played them we were minus Addison (Lindsay) and Ellie (Harry) and we lost, 3-2. Several went three sets down there (so) it was nice to be able to come back and get this 5-0 for the seniors," Central Mountain coach Tom Zettle said.
Lindsay dominated Sabrina Doebler of Shikellamy by winning 6-0, 6-0. It was a match that didn't take much effort from Lindsay. She sliced-and-diced from up close at the net and back near the service line to dominate in straight sets. Harry went deep into her first set with Mckenzie Boyer, getting by with a 7-5 win in the first set. After getting warmed up, Harry took the second set convincingly, 6-1.
Molly Dubbs took a wire-to-wire win with a 6-0, 6-3 victory in singles No. 3. In doubles, the young doubles No. 2 in Kassie Williams and Leah Wian picked up a win in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2, and Emily Brinker and Audra Eaton won 6-2, 6-4.
In a match that took all but half an hour, Lindsay was in control for the duration of her match. She took 3-0 and 5-0 leads in both of her sets to solidify another shutout victory. The state-tournament bound Lindsay played superb. But it was her other singles' teammates, Harry and Dubbs, that had to work the hardest for their respective wins.
Harry dropped the first game of her first set and trailed 1-0 early before exchanging a plethora of points to take a 6-5 lead. She led, 4-3 and 5-4 before that and went back-and-forth with Shikellamy's Boyer. She took the first set in a 7-5 finish that appeared as if the two could possibly go three sets.
Harry had other ideas in the second set. She solidified an early, 3-0 lead and scored her points early and often. Boyer bounced back by splitting the next couple of games with Harry, but Harry found momentum to put the match away. Calmly and collectively, Harry found her groove.
Dubbs, who came out the opposite as Harry, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. She made some good rallies at the net and made some nice hits that Makenna Hoffman of Shikellamy couldn't quite handle, taking the first set 6-0. The second set appeared a little closer than the reality, especially early on where Dubbs had lost momentum for a couple of games. Dubbs split the next few games and then with a 4-3 lead, picked up two consecutive games to pick up the win.
It was a good way for the singles players to finish the season.
"They kept fighting, they didn't stop," coach Zettle said about what he liked from the three singles matches. "Ellie got down early at No. 2 and came back, and they played a close match the whole way through. Molly came out on fire and got a little down during the second set, turned that around and finished strong."
Central Mountain's No. 2 doubles finished ahead of No. 1 doubles. Wian and Williams, both freshman, took a 1-0 games lead early on. They ended up taking the first set and then turned on the jets in the second set. The first-year players picked up some intensity on their returns and serves, in particular, and capitalized on some Shikellamy errors to win 6-2 in the second set.
"No. 2 doubles is going to be strong. They're both ninth graders, they both came out, played well and were one of the first matches done today, too," coach Zettle said. "They're growing, they're learning and doing what they're told."
The returning gems of Eaton and Brinker, a senior, went out on a high note to end the season. A big part of Central Mountain's season has been listening to coach Zettle's advice and applying it. The Wildcats took Zettle's advice and all of a sudden jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set and won the first set 6-2 without much hesitation.
That savvy play by the two veterans shed light into the second set. It took some time as Shikellamy took the first game, going up by one and eventually increasing that to a three-games lead. Eaton and Brinker didn't panic. They won the following two games to close in on the deficit with some good net play.
They eventually retook the lead at 4-3 and deep hits near the service line scored them some points, aiding them to a second set victory to help Central Mountain even the season series and sweep the day.
"It was great for her (Emily Brinker) to go out with a win," coach Zettle said of senior Emily Brinker. "Some things that I've been preaching to them for the last few matches, I saw they finally did, which was great. And they even got down a little bit but they stayed tough, came back and won too. So it was great to see."
Central Mountain's season was a battle of ups-and-downs. The Wildcats dealt with its normal lineup changing more than it would have expected it to for various reasons. But Central Mountain didn't let that bother it. A variety of players stepped in to make an impact and gained some experience along the way.
With the season most likely at a close--unless a home match with Bucktail is rescheduled--Central Mountain went out in a strong way. Despite a few graduating seniors, a returning young core of players topped with possible freshman additions for next season await Central Mountain for next fall.
"I've got a couple of eighth graders coming up and we have so many ninth graders," coach Zettle said about what Central Mountain tennis may look like moving forward. "I think the future just looks great for Central Mountain tennis."
Central Mountain 5, Shikellamy 0
SINGLES
1. Addison Lindsay (CM) def. Sabrina Doebler 6-0, 6-0; 2. Ellie Harry (CM) def. Mckenzie Boyer 7-5, 6-1; 3. Molly Dubbs (CM) def. Makenna Hoffman 6-0, 6-3.
DOUBLES
1. Emily Brinker and Audra Eaton (CM) def. Izzie Kremer and Aiyannah Reid 6-2, 6-4; 2. Kassi Williams and Leah Wian (CM) def. Emmy Underkoffler and Emma Erdley 6-0, 6-2.