By Cort Reynolds
The Ada High School tennis team decisively beat visiting Van Wert 4-1 Thursday evening, April 28, at the park courts.
The Bulldogs improved to 3-4 with their third win in four matches. VW fell to 2-5 with the defeat.
Athletic Ada junior Brendan Jameson polished off his VW opponent quickly in two sets at second singles.
Bulldog junior Amelia Alexander gutted out a tough three-set win at third singles with hustle and mostly mistake-free groundstrokes in the match of the day. The over two-hour bout featured several long rallies and well-contested points.
Alexander eventually put herself into position to serve for the match at 5-2 in the third set. She fell behind 0-15 and 15-30, but battled back. VW's Keaton Foster hit long after two straight extended rallies to reach match point at 40-30.
Two Ada groundstroke errors gave Foster break point. Alexander then hustled to induce a backhand return that sailed wide to produce another deuce. The Cougar freshman then hit a forehand long to advance her to match point.
The opponents battled through a long point as Alexander retrieved a nice lunging forehand to keep the rally alive. Foster then mis-hit an overhead out to finish the match, 6-2.
"I am proud of Alexander for sticking out a tough one and winning," said Ada coach Tyler Christoff.
Ada senior Dexter Woods lost a tough battle at first singles 6-2, 6-4 to hard-hitting senior Jace Fast. The match featured several long rallies that kept the left-hander from using his volleying and net skills, although he did execute one excellent drop volley winner in the first set.
Ada junior Geddes Klingler and senior Isaac Williams won in two sets at first doubles with a strong performance to earn their second win of the spring.
Senior Riley Ferguson and southpaw Nate Williams also won easily at second doubles for the Bulldogs.
"I am just proud of the team's fight, that is something you can't teach," added Christoff.
Ada visits tough local rival Bluffton (3-5) in a makeup match Saturday morning, April 30.
