Bow’s Laura Zbehlik knew her team would be counting on her for two wins – one in singles and another in doubles. She delivered, taking her singles match with a dominant 8-0 win and then teaming up with Claire Mulvaney for an 8-3 win in doubles.
But the top-seeded Falcons needed more than Zbehlik to perform. Other girls had to pick it up, too, and they found that in singles with Casey Day, Sarah Zecha and Mulvaney adding tallies to the win column for a 4-2 lead that turned into 7-2 victory over Profile in the Division III girls tennis semifinals Friday in Bow.
“I’ve never seen them this excited,” said Bow Coach Jonesy Rainville.
Needing to take just one of the three doubles matches to seal the win, Zbehlik and Mulvaney decided the day would belong to the Falcons before either of the other games had finished. The pair worked seamlessly and jumped out to a 7-0 lead against Profile’s Brianna Senft and Manon Belberka. But the Profile girls didn’t let up easily, answering back with crisp returns that skipped through the Bow court and cut their deficit to 7-3.
“It was 7-0 and we thought we had clinched it, we just had to keep the pace up,”Zbehlik said. “They stepped up a little bit and we were caught off guard.”
Zbehlik and Mulvaney could feel some pressure creeping in to put this game away and secure Bow’s spot in the championship round. They regrouped, reset and got back on the offensive side to close the game 8-3.
“We’ve tried working together for the last few years, but this is the first year we have played together the whole time,” Zbehlik said. “We’re definitely doing the best now than we have ever done. Every match, every game we play is just getting better.”
Mulvaney had to reenergize quickly before taking the court with Zbehlik. Her singles match with Isa Miller-White last more than an hour and was the last to finish. The two battled through the first four games, 2-2, but Mulvaney won the next game to take a lead that would help her secure the win.
Mulvaney and Miller-White continued to trade games, matching each other with strong serves until Mulvaney took advantage late and snuck out with an 8-6 win.
Sarah Zecha won her singles match in the No. 5 spot, 8-1, and then joined Nandita Kasireddy to win in doubles 8-6. Kasireddy, Bow’s No. 2, lost 8-5 against Manon Belberka in a singles rematch from the regular season that Kasireddy won.
Day traded games with her singles opponent, Madison Opalinski, to start, but pulled ahead 4-3 pushing Opalinski back against the baseline with hard shots to force challenging returns. Day didn’t give up another game and won, 8-3.
Julia Currier lost her first singles match of the season, 8-2, but found a groove with Day in the doubles round winning 9-7. After falling behind 3-0 against Opalinski and Miller-White, they used the whole match to climb back to a 6-5 lead before taking the win in an extra set. They were the last players to walk off the court Friday.
Even though the match had already been decided before two of the doubles games were over, Rainville said sealing those wins is an important boost heading into the championship.
“It means something going into (the finals) because we want to go in feeling like we can play with and beat anyone,” Rainville said. “The team is confident, but we know Conant is really strong.”
The championship round between Bow and No. 2 seed Conant will take -place Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Derryfield School.
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3309, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)