Lady Pirates tennis dominates own invitational

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the face of high school athletics, and the Ottawa Girls Tennis Invitational is no exception.

But that suits the Lady Pirates just fine.

The event, which had annually been an eight-team tournament, was this year switched to a four-team quad, and the host team swept right through the three dual matches against Minooka, Geneseo and Dunlap in dominating fashion.

OHS dispatched the Lady Leafs, the Indians and Lady Eagles by identical finals of 4-1, with Ella Marvel, Marta Johnson, Rebekah Felty, Mary Riva and Kyleigh Olszewski all taking part in three wins on the day that lifted the Lady Pirates' mark to 4-0 in duals so far this season.

Coach Steve Johnson was pleased with his team’s performance, particularly in light of the team’s on-again, off-again practice schedule due to factors beyond their control. Contributing to the unsettling was the determination that there would be no state finals, only a sectional.

“We were off x-many days because the school was shut down, we had a heat day, we got rained out on Tuesday, and things are so disjointed that there’s no flow to practice … and we’re not getting those good workouts,” Johnson said. “The things we need to work on, we can’t because we’re in matches.

“But the nice thing about playing this way is we got to change our lineup around, so Sara, Mary and Ella all got to play doubles and singles today. ... It also gave me a chance to see a few things I’ve been thinking about for the postseason. With no state tournament, that changes my end-of-the-season outlook a bit. Now our focus is to win sectional.

"We’ll see how the rest of the season goes as we get ready for that.”

In the win over Geneseo, Marvel was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Alison Bowers at No. 1 singles, while Meyer topped Laney Dunker 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2.

Marta Johnson and Rebekah Felty teamed for a tight 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4) victory over the Leafs’ Emma Dunker and Emma Clarys at No. 1 doubles and the Lady Pirates’ Riva and Kyleigh Olszewski were close 7-6 (1), 0-6, 11-9 victor over Chloe Adams and Annie Turpin at No. 2.

Falling at No. 3 doubles were Grace Satterfield and Avery Landers, 6-2, 6-2, to GHS’ Hanna Griffin and Emma Slaymaker.

“Honestly, I feel I did pretty good today,” Meyer said. “I came into today wanting to be more accurate side to side because I usually just return it down the middle every time, and I think I did well at that today. … I usually play singles and I like it, but doubles is still fun. It’s a nice change for us.”

Marvel, Riva and Meyer all traded roles against Minooka, with Riva taking the No. 2 singles match 7-5, 6-1 over Sam Thornton and Marvel teaming with Johnson for a 6-0, 6-1 win over Hanna Grace Marti and Marlo Scholtes at No. 1 doubles. At No. 1 singles, Meyer fell to the Indians’ Izzi Figarelli 2-6, 7-5, 11-9.

It was Felty/Olszewski taking a 6-1, 6-2 decision from Mariah Buarte at No. 2 and Satterfield/Landers claiming a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Dylan Rodriguez and Abby Arnold at No. 3.

“Coming into today, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be playing singles or doubles, and I ended up doing some of both,” said Marvel. “I don’t really have a preference of one over the other. I’m just happy to be playing.

"It was kinda windy, and you had to adjust, but I went for it when I had a chance to and hit my shots. Our team played pretty well today. We got the job done.”

Back at No. 1 singles against Dunlap, Marvel powered out a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Sophie Muir, while Riva, dropping down to No. 2, took down Emily Klemens 6-4, 6-3.

Doubles action saw Johnson/Meyer come away with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) decision over Shreya Sri Perumalla and Leah Meghrian and Felty/Olszewski stake out a 6-0, 6-2 win over Rithika Gantla and Ana Veja. Satterfield/Landers dropped a 4-6, 7-5, 10-5 verdict to Nandini Gurramkonda and Shikha Agarwal.

“I thought I served pretty well today. I’ve been working on that a lot,” said Riva, who was cleared from quarantine on Thursday after being near a person who tested positive for COVID-19 last week. “It was a good win for us today.

"I’m really proud of the girls.”