There wasn’t much time to squeeze in a tennis match before the rain came on Friday afternoon, but the Falcons didn’t need much time to take care of their business.
The Bow girls’ tennis team swept through its singles matches against Monadnock (4-5) and claimed a 6-0 win while the courts were still dry.
The win pushes the Falcons record to 11-0 and sets the stage for Saturday’s showdown with 8-0 Conant, the only other undefeated team in Division III.
“The girls are very excited and they feel like they’re ready for Conant,” Bow Coach Jonsey Rainville said. “It’s a senior heavy team and they’ve got good heads on their shoulders. I think they feel good.”
The Falcons have six seniors on their roster, four seniors in their top six and one senior who is a leader among leaders. That would be Laura Zbehlik, who has been the team’s No. 1 player for the last three years and was No. 4 when the Falcons won the 2013 D-III title. On Friday she rolled to an 8-0 win in the top spot.
“The core of our team is Laura Zbehlik,” Rainville said. “She’s improved since last year but more importantly she is an exceptional leader. She’s wise beyond her years and she’s like an assistant coach, really. She’s playing well, she’s playing with confidence and she mentors the younger kids.”
The other seniors in the top six are No. 3 Casey Day (8-1 winner against Monadnock), No. 5 Sarah Zecha (8-3) and No. 6 Julia Currier (8-0). Day and Zecha have varsity experience, but Currier, who was a captain for Bow’s 19-1 state champion girls’ soccer team, is new to the top six and only started playing the sport two months ago.
“She’s just a phenomenal athlete so I’ve been harassing her since her freshman year, or let’s say encouraging her, to play tennis,” Rainville said. “So she came out this year and started the season at 10 or 12 and then just beat everyone on her way to the six spot. She has some unorthodox strokes, but she’s such a good athlete and such a smart athlete that it works for her.”
Junior Nandita Kasireddy came from behind to claim an 8-5 win at No. 2 on Friday. And Claire Mulvaney rounded out the singles sweep with an impressive 8-1 win at No. 4.
“It was a really clean win for Claire today,” Rainville said. “She breezed right through it and gained some confidence.”
Those six – Zbehlik, Kasireddy, Day, Mulvaney, Zecha and Currier – have been in the singles lineup for all 11 of Bow’s wins. They’ve also been in the doubles lineup, but not in the combination you might think.
Zbehlik and Mulvaney have been partners in the past, so they stayed together this season. Rainville then paired Day and Currier, “they just have incredible chemistry together,” as the third doubles team. But when they challenged the second team of Kasireddy and Zecha, Day and Currier came out on top, so now they’re in the No. 2 doubles spot with Kasireddy and Zecha at No. 3.
Rainville hopes those doubles teams will be playing meaningful matches on Saturday at Conant in the battle of unbeatens.
“I think we’re ready,” Rainville said. “We’re hoping to give them a run for their money.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or at tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20)