EHS's Sosa reaches championship match, takes 2nd place
By Michael Ashford
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Sophomore Jordan Sosa captured a second-place finish at the No. 2 singles position to lead the Emporia High girls tennis team Wednesday afternoon at the Washburn Rural Invitational in Topeka.
Sosa finished her day with a 2-1 record, making it to the championship match in No. 2 singles before falling to Seaman’s Stephanie Bownes, 8-3, to finish second.
“She played pretty smart today,” EHS assistant coach Matt Irby said. “Even in the last match, she played, I thought, fairly well, she’s just still learning how to close out matches. Overall, though, she played well.”
At the No. 1 singles spot, Amanda Roberts picked up a big win for herself in her second match of the day, defeated Shawnee Heights’ Morgan Hines, 8-6. Hines was a State qualifier a year ago, and Irby said the win was a needed one.
“We’ve been playing some bruiser meets the last couple of weeks against a lot teams that have a chance at winning State or placing in the top 5 there,” Irby said. “Beating a girl who qualified for State last year and getting a good win was big for her (Roberts).
“She played about as well as anybody today.”
In doubles play, both the No. 1 team of Sarah Watkins and Whitney Page and the No. 2 duo of Rose Nasrazadani and Lauren Kitchens finished their day with 1-2 records overall, but because of where their wins occurred during the tournament, Nasrazadani and Kitchens placed fourth while Watkins and Page took seventh.
Nasrazadani and Kitchens opened the invitational with an 8-3 victory over a team from Garden City before falling in back-to-back matches against teams from Washburn Rural. Watkins and Page, meanwhile, dropped their first two matches to teams from Rural and Garden City before rebounding to win their final match, 8-1, over a Shawnee Heights duo.
“I saw glimpses of good things from both of them,” Irby said. “They had their flashes, we’re just too inconsistent right now.
“But I was encouraged by some things I saw today.”
Washburn Rural Invitational
Wednesday at Topeka
No. 1 Singles
Avery Clifton, W.R., def. Amanda Roberts, Emp, 8-0; Roberts def. Morgan Hines, S.H., 8-6; Ashley Wlech, T.W., def. Roberts, 8-2.
No. 2 Singles
Jordan Sosa, Emp, def. Sierra Contee, H.P., 8-1; Sosa def. Janelle Gonzalez, Hay, 8-5; Stephanie Bownes, Sea, def. Sosa, 8-3.
No. 1 Doubles
Caby/Hertling, W.R., def. Sarah Watkins/Whitney Page, Emp, 8-3; McNutt/Rodriguez, G.C., def. Watkins/Page, 8-4; Watkins/Page def. Cutler/Schermer, S.H., 8-1.
No. 2 Doubles
Rose Nasrazadani/Lauren Kitchens, Emp, def. Walz/Irvin, G.C., 8-3; Broslavik/Griggs, W.R., def. Nasrazadani/Kitchens, 8-4; Munker/Werner, W.R., def. Nasrazadani/Kitchens, 8-4.