Stories

Monticello’s lower seeds ignite win

Week after week, Monticello’s April Ecenrode has come up just a little short in the constant challenge matches that dominate the Mustangs’ practices.

But a foot injury to Monticello’s usual No. 5, Kelsey Combs, opened the door for Encenrode to play in the sixth spot for the Mustangs.

She delivered, and picked up a huge singles win to help spark Monticello past Western Albemarle 6-3. With the victory, the Mustangs sit alone in the top spot in the Jefferson District standings for what appears to be the first time in school history.

“It’s a really good feeling—especially against our rivals,” Ecenrode said.

Monticello’s Lizzy Gaffney and Kate Geldmacher took care of business at the top two spots, but the match was locked at 2-2 with Western’s Lauren Hagspiel and Moira Wright snagging wins at the three and four positions. That put the pressure on Ecenrode and Samantha Lin in the bottom two spots, and both won, with both rallying for 10-8 victories, setting off some quick celebrations among the Mustangs coaches and players as they grabbed a 4-2 lead going into doubles.

“At the beginning I was up because of my serve and then I started losing my serve, and my forehand is my weakness,” Ecenrode said. “But my coaches and my teammates really pumped me up and I brought it back.”

Ecenrode, who moved in from Germany this year, is just a sophomore, and the critical win should be a confidence boost for the youngster, who battled some nerves early in the match.

Lin, who was slated to be in the sixth slot, managed to squeak out the fifth spot win.

With Ecenrode’s victory, Monticello managed to complete the victory with wins from their top two doubles teams, comprised of Gaffney and Mayo Rives, as well as Geldmacher and Mariah Shaw. Geldmacher and Shaw were up 7-4, but started to struggle, losing four straight games to go down 8-7. But they bounced back to snag the 10-8 win.

Gaffney, a junior who’s never lost a regular season district match in her career, cruised through her match at the top spot, while Geldmacher had to battle for a 10-6 win over Sonali Nanda, who made Geldmacher work for every point. Wright and Anna Ware managed to win the third doubles match for Western.

The two squads, who were both unbeaten in the Jefferson coming into the contest, will get another chance to lock up May 11.

Comments

comments