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Top-seed Krissy Davis pulls off lone Raider win in 8-1 loss to Liberty
With a record of 3-5, the Stonewall Jackson girls’ tennis team hasn't had much to celebrate this season.
Yet that has not stopped coaches Aimee O’Connor and Lindsey Bailey from taking note of the potential from some of their rising stars and veterans.
Liberty soundly defeated Stonewall 8-1 Monday afternoon in Bealeton.
Liberty's Mary Marks, Ally Burton, Catherine Combs, Maria Eckert and Emily Rinker scored singles victories for the home team, while all three of Liberty’s doubles teams swept their Raider opponents.
Top-seeded senior Krissy Davis did offer some silver lining to the Stonewall cloud with a hard-fought 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 win over up-and-coming freshman Katie Sheaffer.
“She’s incorporated more slice, and she’s more consistent,” said coach O’Connor of Davis’ (5-3) approach to the game in what is now her final varsity season.
“She’s thinking her points out. She’s setting up her points more,” added coach Bailey.
Bailey noticed Davis has matured significantly just since last season as she is “not just going out and banging the ball as hard as she can. She’s thinking about her game.”
According to O’Connor, Davis’ wins this season are due to patience and consistency on the court. When she wins, her number of unforced errors is low.
Davis fended off Shaeffer's powerful serve and overall athletic ability. The freshman who can cover a lot of ground rather quickly, according to her coach, Ellen Allen.
“She’s a great competitor and she hates to lose, and you can see that on the court,” said Allen of her three-sport ninth-grade athlete. Shaeffer also plays basketball and volleyball for Liberty.
“She gets upset if things don’t go her way,” Allen added.
In the 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) match between second-seeded seniors Marks and Emilie Bouchet of Stonewall, Marks just “dug a little bit deeper and won it in a tiebreaker,” Allen said.
Bouchet mixed up her style of defense by approaching the net more than usual. While it may be easier for a player to stay in the backcourt, the up-close game mixes high risks with high rewards.
“I think she would have won if she didn’t lose the first set,” O’Connor said. “She was starting to come alive when it was a little too late.”
Her younger sister, Olivia Bouchet, is being groomed to be next season’s No. 1 hitter. Though Burton bested her on Monday, Bailey and O’Connor believe that, over time, with the proper skill sets, Bouchet could become a top contender in Cedar Run District.
“She needs to learn how to mix her game up,” said O‘Connor.
Once she does that, “she’ll be out there with the top girls,” added Bailey.
Freshman Alexis Wissinger put up one the toughest fights among the Raider girls who fell to Liberty, as she beat Combs in the first set 7-5 (7-6).
“She’s got great strokes,” said O’Connor. “She just needs to mature a little bit.”
The Stonewall coaches expect Wissinger to be a No. 2 hitter in her sophomore season. With underclassmen paving the way for the future of the Stonewall team, every game is crucial to the players gaining valuable on-court experience.
“They’re communicating and moving well together,” Bailey said of the three-four doubles team made up of Olivia Bouchet and Wissinger. “So we wanted to keep them together because we’ll have them together next year also.”
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