Newport tennis underway

NEWPORT – The Newport tennis team played twice last week, at Riverside Tuesday, March 18 and at home against Lakeside Thursday, March 20.

The young team got some valuable experience but not team wins. The girls lost 4-1 to Riverside and 3-2 to Lakeside and the boys were shut out 5-0 at Riverside and lost 3-2 to Lakeside, mostly due to not having enough boys.

The format has changed in 2B tennis, going from two singles and three doubles teams to three singles and two doubles.

At Riverside, the teams played two singles and three doubles. Olivia Sears and Emmalee Doughty got a two-set win at No. 1 doubles, with Olivia Jackman and Grace Keck falling in two at No. 2 doubles and Camrin Taxter and Emily Riddles losing in two at No. 3 doubles.

Marisa Dahl lost in three sets at No. 1 singles and Heaven Cooper in two at No. 2 singles.

On the boys’ side, Preston Davis and Luke Wright lost in two at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. The boys didn’t field doubles teams.

“Riverside was a great way for our players to get a taste of competition for the first time and it was great to see them moving around and hitting against someone new for the first time,” coach Brandon McDaniel says. “Our boys’ team has been really depleted, but the boys we do have are doing a great job and I expect them to be very successful individually as we go through the season.”

There are three new singles players on the girls’ side who played doubles last year but are adjusting to singles play.

“It was great to see them start to settle in and experience what that looks like,” McDaniel says.

Lakeside was a great matchup, he says. “Our number one girls’ doubles team came back from a 1-5 deficit, forced the tie break to win 7-0 and never looked back taking the final set 6-1,” he says of the play of Sears and Doughty. “They are doing a great job together staying hungry and building chemistry like crazy right now.”

The other girls wind win came from Collison at No. 3 singles. She is new this year but has a natural serve and a coachable attitude, McDaniel says.

“She got her first win of her career with a 6-4, 6-2 win and also challenged up to take the No. 2 spot for this coming week. She is going to see a lot of success into the future if she keeps it up,” he says.

Jackman and Keck lost in two sets at No. 2 girls’ doubles and Dahl and Cooper lost at No. 1 and 2 girls’ singles.

Davis and Wright won at No. 1 and 2 boys singles, getting two set wins.

“Our boys did a great job on the singles side of things, but again, we lost because our numbers force us to give up 2-3 matches in forfeits right now,” Mc-Daniel says. He says Davis is playing the best tennis McDaniel has seen him play. “We are expecting big things from him this year,” he says.