It could have been a discouraging week for the Carson girls tennis team to take on what figures to be Northern Nevada's two toughest teams.
But the way Carson coach Kincaid DeJoseph sees it, the toughest part of the season is already over. "I'm very optimistic for the rest of the season," he said.
After an opening with a loss at Galena, Carson fell to Reno 19 1/2 to 3 on Thursday at Centennial Park. The two wins that the Senators picked up though were encouraging as Polly Johnson and Natalie Rogers teamed for the first time in doubles to win two of three matches.
"They're both good teams," said DeJoseph about Reno and Galena. "There's not a whole lot you can do there but smile, grin and do your best. Galene and Reno are traditionally tough."
Johnson and Rogers won 6-1 and 6-3. In their 6-1 win, Johnson set the tone for the match with a forehand serve return winner down the alley for a break. Rogers went on to serve for a winner to give Carson a 5-1 lead.
In their 6-3 win, Johnson's forehand serve return winner down the line gave Carson a 3-2 lead. Johnson followed with a backhand volley down the middle to break serve for a 4-3 lead and Rogers went on to hold serve at love, serving an ace on game point for a 5-3 lead.
"For two singles players that never played doubles before, I thought they did all right," DeJoseph said. "Their all-around games are good and they work well together."
CARSON BOYS FALL
The Carson boys tennis team had an encouraging effort against one of Northern Nevada's top teams before losing at Reno 16-6 1/2. The highlight for Carson was the play of Josh Brekken and Andy Araza who won two of three matches.
Their only loss came against Reno's No. 1 seed, considered to be the top team in the north, in a tiebreaker 6-7 (5-7). They won their other matches 6-0, 7-5.
"They are both good tennis players and we didn't know unitl we stuck them together how they would mesh," Carson coach Jeff Evans said.
In singles, Adam Henningsen won 7-6 (7-5) and Baron Brooks won 6-4.
"We probably could have gotten eight or nine off of them," said Evans about the score.
