Beech Tree News Network

After a Monday date with the Mustangs, the Bears turned around and visited the Owensboro Red Devils on Tuesday.  Both teams came away with wins, but took different routes to get there.

In boys action, things got off to a rocky start for the Bears, with Amit Hajari dropping the #1 seed 1-6 2-6.  At #2 Matthew Embry, playing an 8-game pro-set, found himself down 4-7, before storming back, taking 5 straight games and 6 of 7 overall, to force a tiebreak at 8-8.  In the tiebreak, Embry found himself 2 points away from losing, down 2-5, before again going on a tear, winning 7 of the next 9 points, for a 9-7 tiebreak win.  At #5 singles, Remmington Harpe almost found himself on the opposite end of Embry's situation.  Harpe raced out to a 7-4 lead, before his opponent forced a tiebreaker at 8-8.  In the tiebreaker, the two players were dead-even at 3-3, when Remmington found his second wind and won four of the next five points to take the breaker by a score of 7-4.

With a 4-2 lead in the team match, the Bears only needed one doubles win to clinch.  That win came at #2 doubles, where Embry and Dakota Merrick put together some of their best doubles all year, in a dominating 8-3 victory.  The final team score ended up being 5-4; a sweet reversal for the boys, given the 4-5 loss the night before.  With the win, the boys team finds themselves 5-2 on the season, with opposing coaches starting to take notice.  Both the Muhlenberg and Owensboro coaches gave very positive feedback about the Bears as a whole.  

The Lady Bears also came away with a victory, winning 7-2.  And while the score might indicate an easy match, that was certainly not the case.  The Red Devils came to play and early-on it appeared the Lady Bears as a whole did not.  Things did eventually get rolling for the girls.  At #1, Chanda Hampton had trouble with her opponent's power and did not get comfortable until it was too late in the match, falling 0-6 2-6.  Sierra Fields let an early lead slip away at #2 singles, rebounded, but came up just short.  Katona Dockery overcame an early deficit to squeak out a win at #3 singles.  At #4 and #5 singles, Emily Wallace and Laura Hunt pulled out tight matches by 8-6 and 9-7 scores.  The only relatively easy win in singles for the Bears came at #6 where Hannah Barrow rolled to an 8-4 victory.  With the tide seeming to turn against her, Owensboro's coach pulled back on her line-up for doubles, allowing for the Lady Bears to roll in doubles, dropping only three games total between the three doubles matches.  The Lady Bears are now 5-1 on the season.

Boys Results
Singles

    Amit Hajari lost to Josh Hicks 1-6 2-6
    Matt Embry def Chase Shocklett 9-8 (7)
    Brennan Grubb def Peter Kaminski 8-6
    Dakota Merrick def Paxton Harmon 8-6
    Remmington Harpe def Jared Collier 9-8 (4)
    Ivan Beasley lost to Dylan Willoughby 3-8

Doubles

    Hajari/Grubb lost to Hicks/Kaminski 4-8
    Embry/Merrick def Shocklett/Harmon 8-3
    Harpe/Beasley lost to Collier/Willoughby 3-8

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Girls Results

Singles

    Chanda Hampton lost to Chandler Thompson 0-6 2-6
    Sierra Fields lost Anna Caroline Blake 3-6 6-1 1-0 (9)
    Katona Dockery def Catherine Clark 9-8 (5)
    Emily Wallace def Delaney Hayden 8-6
    Laura Hunt def Sammie Barlow 9-7
    Hannah Barrow def Ivey Leach 8-4

Doubles

    Hampton/Dockery def (names unavailable) 6-0 6-1
    Fields/Wallace def Barlow/Each 8-2
    Hunt/Barrow def (names unavailable) 8-0

Photos by Steve Smith, Beech Tree News