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Munising High School girls tennis team drops season opener at Gladstone

Munising’s Elizabeth Holloway returns a shot in the No. 3 doubles match during a Thursday high school girls tennis meet at Gladstone. (Escanaba Daily Press photo by Austin Hemmingson)

GLADSTONE — The Gladstone Braves are in the win column.

Facing their fourth opponent in the last seven days, the Braves dominated most matches on their way to a 7-1 home tennis victory over Munising on Thursday morning.

“It felt great to get that first win of the season,” Braves coach Ryan Barron said. “It is a great confidence booster that the girls needed.”

Kate Matthews and Addison Trombley were particularly dominant at No. 2 and No. 4 singles, respectively, as neither dropped a game.

“I thought my match against (MacKenzie Richardson) went very well,” Matthews said. “My serves were spot on and I had very good placement of the ball.”

Trombley swept Munising’s Emily Miles in her match.

Alaina Trudeau was also dominant at No. 1, winning 6-1, 6-2 over Munising’s Logan Peters.

“It felt good to get a win at the end of the week to keep my confidence up going into next week,” Trudeau said.

Munising picked up its only win at No. 3 singles, where Jenna Matson took down Rachel Krouth 6-4, 6-1.

“We have a very young team, so we still have a lot of learning to do,” Mustangs coach Jennifer Cornish said. “But I’m very impressed with how well they’re playing.”

Gladstone swept doubles, which started off with Marnnea LaFave and Emma Delaire picking up a convincing 6-1, 6-0 victory over Skylar Campbell and Maci Cornish at No. 1.

At No. 2 doubles, Alesha Marenger and Emma Wagner had to persevere through a long 10-8 tiebreaker to win the first set 7-6, then followed that up with a 6-2 win to knock off Munising’s Payton Cotey and Lori Mattson.

“Today’s match was a somewhat challenging match for Alesha and I despite winning,” Wagner said. “The first set we won in a tiebreaker, but that whole set we were just not in the groove of things. By the second set we got it together and we were way better.

“Alesha’s serves were very on-point today and that helped us a lot. We were both pleased with the outcome.”

Gladstone’s Maggie Buckley and Montgomery Pepin earned a 6-0, 6-3 triumph over Madelin Cole and Elizabeth Holloway at No. 3, while Lahna Castor and Sophia Rosa picked up a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Munising’s Athina Johnson and Valerie Johnson at No. 4.

It was the first match of the season for the Mustangs, so coach Cornish felt nerves were a factor.

“This is our first time playing this season, so I think after today, maybe they’ll get some of (the nerves) out,” she said. “But overall, they had some good hits. I think they’re feeling pretty good about themselves.”

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