Story and photo by Cort Reynolds
ADA - The Ada tennis team won all three singles matches to knock off local Northwest Conference rival Bluffton 3-2 on a warm Monday evening at the park to register their first home win on the resurfaced courts.
The Bulldog netters evened their record at 6-6 with the victory, while the Pirates fell to 2-6 with the defeat. It was Ada's fourth win in five matches over the past eight days.
The Bulldogs and Bluffton are the only two NWC schools that field boys tennis teams.
Ada senior Miranda Wills increased her record to 8-4 this season at first singles by dropping just one game in rolling over Pirate senior Eden Nygaard.
Wills used aggressive groundstroking, especially behind a strong topspin forehand, to control the match and court positioning that put Nygaard on the defensive most of the match.
Bulldog junior southpaw Dexter Woods III utilized fine net play with good angled volleys at number two singles to shut out Pirate Luke Shadle and improve his record to 10-2 this spring.
"Miranda and Dexter both played well with Miranda mainly playing an aggressive baseline game, and Dexter mainly playing an aggressive net game," said Ada head coach Woods.
Streaking Ada junior Brendan Jameson won his fifth consecutive match at third singles over Pirate senior Grant Klingler with good retrieving and athleticism.
"Brendan started slowly and went down 0-2, but recovered fairly quickly to win 12 of the last 13 games," noted Woods.
Seniors Cole Anspaugh and Colton Biederman lost to Pirate senior Thad Mittendorf and junior Bryan Zimmerman at first doubles in two sets.
"Cole and Colton put forth good effort, but were a bit tired and out of synch after four away matches last week, including a three-set doubles win on Saturday," Woods offered.
At second doubles, the Ada sophomore tandem of Amelia Alexander and Geddes Klingler fell to the Bluffton tandem of senior Conner Lee and sophomore Braeden Ackerman in two well-contested sets.
The Bulldog duo battled hard throughout a long second set. Bluffton was able to close out the match by winning the last game when the return of Ackerman's serve at 40-30 sailed just long.
"Amelia and Geddes continued their tradition of long and exciting matches with a majority of games going to deuce," Woods recalled.
"They won two games the first set and four the second set as they continue to gain experience in dealing with close games and big points - with their Ada fans cheering them on," Woods added.
In exhibition singles play, Bluffton sophomore Eli Wenger defeated normal doubles specialists Ada's Connor Daugherty, Brendan Kah and Ashlyn Madison with a powerful serve and strong forehand over several four-game sets.
Individual match results:
1st singles: Miranda Wills (Ada) defeated Eden Nygaard (B) 6-0, 6-1
2nd singles: Dexter Woods (Ada) def. Luke Shadle (B) 6-0, 6-0
3rd singles: Brendan Jameson (Ada) def. Grant Klingler (B) 6-2, 6-1
1st doubles: Thad Mittendorf/Bryan Zimmerman (B) def. Cole Anspaugh/Colton Biederman (Ada) 6-0, 6-2
2nd doubles: Conner Lee/Braeden Ackerman (B) def. Amelia Alexander/Geddes Klingler (Ada) 6-2, 6-4
After going 4-1 recently, the Bulldogs look to stay hot when they host WBL foe Bath (3-3) in a rematch Wednesday, April 28. The Wildcats beat the Bulldogs 4-1 on April 14.
Ada then visits another WBL rival in Van Wert (5-4) Thursday, April 29.
The Bulldogs are 1-3 at home, 3-3 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites (Westwood) this season.
