Geneva dominates rival Bulldogs
A Batavia-Geneva girls tennis match is usually a showcase for two solid teams, as well as an opportunity to renew a great rivalry.
Tuesday afternoon in Geneva, the Vikings used the occasion to prove they are still the team to beat in the Western Sun Conference as they topped the Bulldogs, 6-1.
As she's done every time the two teams have met over the past couple of seasons, Kayla Fujimoto paced the Vikings at the top of the singles lineup. The sophomore remained undefeated on the season as she swept Alexa Schofield, 6-1, 6-1.
"Because of the rivalry, everyone gets ready for this match," Fujimoto said. "It's just different than when we play other teams."
Blair Selakovich's No. 2 singles match got off to a bit of a rough start when the senior was inadvertently hit in the eye by a shot from Batavia's Kim Sawyer.
"I got drilled, and I was really irritated by that, but I stayed focused," Selakovich said.
The added motivation seemed to work as Selakovich recovered and closed out the match, 6-0, 6-0.
The Vikings (16-5, 6-0) also won the top doubles matches, as Liz Bertrand and Krista Panko improved to 6-0 in conference play with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Abby Link and Anne Keane.
"We were missing (Jessica Riemenschnider) one of our No. 1 doubles players," Batavia coach Brad Nelson said. "But that's no excuse."
Over at second doubles, Mary Pelling and Alexa Rogers beat Elena Mudrak and Mallory Ramp, 6-1, 6-1, while Emily Baumer and Maddie Suchor sharpened their game as the match went along and beat Sarah Nikonchuck and Shelby Lauman, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3.
Kelly Mather and Sarah Zacchea gutted out a tough second set in their fourth doubles match against Kim Knapik and Annie Deline to complete Geneva's doubles sweep with a 6-3, 7-5 win.
"My three and four doubles are girls who are playing their first year of varsity," Geneva coach Maureen Weiler said. "We've had our doubts, but they all came through."
The Bulldogs found something to cheer about in Kristen Sapyta's determined, come-from-behind effort against Jamie Potts at third singles.
"It was pure endurance," Sapyta said. "I just believed that I could do it."
After Potts won the first set, 6-4, Sapyta turned in a solid second set, and the 6-3 win sent the match to a decisive third. Down 2-0, the Batavia senior won 8 straight points to tie the set and start a 4-game streak, en route to a 6-4 clincher.
"I stopped worrying about the score, and started thinking about getting the next point," Sapyta said.
Though on paper the 6-1 team final might still look one-sided, emotionally, that one win made a huge difference to the Bulldogs (12-6, 5-1).
"(Losing) 7-0 would've been tough to swallow," Nelson said. "We knew coming in it was going to be a task to beat Geneva. Today was a good measuring stick. We didn't play our best, but we know we've got work to do."