Springside racquetwomen break Inter-Ac drought

by TOM UTESCHER

Up until October 7 2004, the date of Springside School’s last Girls Inter-Ac League tennis victory was obscured by the mists of time. Grizzled veterans furrowed their brows trying to recall the occasion, a task made more difficult by the fact that the team has had five different coaches just since 1999.

It’s believed that the last time the Lions chiseled a “W” next to a league contest on their schedule was in 1997, when the locals knocked off Notre Dame and Shipley to finish at 2-5 in the Inter-Ac. Suffice it to say that the Springsiders of today were overjoyed when they came from behind last Thursday to defeat visiting Germantown Academy, 4-3.

The Lions (4-5 overall, 1-2 league), were actually on the verge of elimination fairly early in the encounter, as the first three matches to be completed all went into the Patriots’ column.

Germantown number one Elaine Mirabile topped Hadley Steel, 6-0, 6-2, and at third singles the visitors’ Lee Graf won 6-2, 6-3 over her Springside counterpart, Karen Rothschild. Ali Dollaway and Meera Shah, paired at third doubles for the Patriots, defeated Nell Sorenson and Karen Kesselring of the host team, 6-4, 6-2.

After that, however, Springside number three Emily Bilger delivered a 6-4, 6-4 victory over visitor Liz Larkin, and the Lions won at first and second doubles, as well. In the first position Anna Heilbrun and Katie Prejsnar overcame visitors Katie Allenson and Brittany Gigliotti, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, and the second doubles bout went to Lua O’Brien and Lucy Sorenson, who battled to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Alyce Fernley and Alaina Lachman of GA.

The overall match now came down to the contest at second singles between Springside sophomore Julia Judd, who won the first set, 6-2, and Germantown senior Katie Auerbach, who captured the second set at 6-4.

“I didn’t know for sure that the whole thing depended on my match,” said Judd, “but I kind of figured it out by the way everyone else was watching us at the end, and how they were really into it.”

With multiple deuces in many of the games, this bout lasted so late in the day that league rules dictated a tiebreaker must be played in place of a full third set. The Pats’ Auerbach stayed close up to 4-5, then Judd took the next two points to clinch the individual match and the team victory.