Wednesday, September 5th, 2012

Bulldogs blank Roughriders 5-0

By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Celina's Miranda Werling hits a forehand during her second singles match on Tuesday against St. Marys. Werling won her match 6-1 and 6-4.

CELINA - The final score might not reflect it, but St. Marys was a challenging opponent for the Celina girls' tennis team on Tuesday afternoon at the Booster Club Tennis Complex.
Celina improved to 5-0 in Western Buckeye League play after a 5-0 sweep over the rival Roughriders.
Although the Bulldogs posted a shutout, the Roughriders were competitive in most of the five matches.
"The scores looked like they were easy, but I didn't think they were as easy as they looked," said Celina's coach Jan Morrison. "St. Marys made us hit a lot of balls. The set scores weren't as close, but games were close. It was back and forth. St. Marys is a pretty steady team."
Roughriders' coach Brice Brenneman was complimentary of the Bulldogs.
"We played well in spots, at times, but Celina was very consistent," said Brenneman. "When we had a chance to do something, they closed the door on us. We had a good showing at second singles in the second set. Second doubles had a shot and we played well at third singles in stretches. Pretty competitive just about everywhere, but couldn't get over the hump. Celina's got a real solid team."
At first singles, St. Marys' Katie Peterson battled Brianna Beougher in the opening set before Beougher prevailed 6-4. It was all Beougher in the second set as she rolled to a 6-0 win.
Celina's Miranda Werling opened her second singles match with a 6-1 win in the first set over Emily Brown and then Werling outlasted Brown in the second set for a 6-4 victory.
At third singles, Celina's Sasha Jenkins defeated Anna Ernst 6-1 and 6-3.
Celina's first doubles team of Katie Kerr and Leah Rose continued their strong season by beating the Roughriders' sister tandem of Ariel and Priscilla Dodson (6-0 and 6-2) in the quickest match of the day.
The most interesting match was at second doubles as Brooke Sutter was without regular partner Kalee Gardner due to illness. Junior exchange student Laura Mayoral, playing her first year of tennis, took Gardner's place as Celina faced St. Marys' duo of Haley McGee and Abby Wilker. Sutter and Mayoral took the opener 6-3, but Wilker and McGee battled back and held a 5-4 advantage in the second set. Sutter and Moyoral rallied to win the last three games to claim the set and match 7-5.
"She's a paddle-ball player," said Morrison of Mayoral. "She's come on real quickly. She hasn't played a lot of tennis before, but there's a lot of carry over. She did a nice job out there. She stepped up when we needed her."
Celina is back in action on Thursday with a road trip to Van Wert (3-1 WBL). St. Marys (3-2 WBL) hosts Defiance (1-2) on Thursday.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Celina's Katie Kerr, pictured, teamed with Leah Rose at first doubles and the duo earned a 6-0 and 6-2 win during the Bulldogs' 5-0 triumph on Tuesday over St. Marys.

Additional online story on this date
Minster
MINSTER - Village council members learned Tuesday night the emerald ash borer continues to damage trees.
Officials believe some of the larger trees, which already show signs of damage, should be felled and replaced while others should be treated. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) - Researchers who hope to prevent children from dying in tractor accidents are turning to a state-of-the-art driving simulator to help determine when kids can safely operate farm equipment.
ROCKFORD - Village council on Tuesday passed a resolution to remove a 2-mill renewal levy for the village fire department from the November ballot.
CELINA - The county engineer's office is seeking a quarter million dollar loan to replace three aging bridges.
The oldest bridge - located on Swamp
MARIA STEIN - Celina's volleyball coach Amy Sutter saw improvement from her team, but Marion Local's Amy Steininger says her squad played their most complete match of the season as the Flyers defeated the Bulldogs 25-11, 25-14 and 25-19 on Tuesday in Maria Stein.
Local Roundup
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Celina scored five goals in the first half and improved to 2-0 in Western Buckeye League girls' soccer action after an 8-0 win over Defiance on Tuesday at Celina Soccer Stadium.