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Return Home Snaps Skid As Messiah Beats York By 7-2 Score
Junior Steph Knepper was a big part of Messiah's dominance Monday, winning in both doubles and singles play, dropping a total of just five sets combined.
By Jansen Hein, GoMessiah.com reporter Messiah’s doubles showed up much as it did at the team’s last home game just over a week ago, taking two of the three matches from the visiting Spartans. The number two doubles team of senior Annie Gotchel and sophomore Sarah Thow made quick work of their opponents with a quick 5-0 start — on their way to an 8-2 victory. Dynamic serving and a focus on volley location proved to be the difference in the match, as the tandem evened their record at 2-2 on the year. Juniors Katie Marstaller and Steph Knepper made an even longer run at a clean sheet by taking a 7-0 lead before giving up one game at the third doubles spot, eventually cruising to a 8-1 decision. The duo’s willingness to rally and force shorts down the line produced the lopsided result. This left a tough first doubles match to finish out the doubles portion of the day, and juniors Stacey Clark and Kristen Chen faced a tough York combo. Clark and Chen were able to remain on serve through a majority of the match, but an unfortunate brake at 4-6 found them on the verge of defeat with a score of 4-7. The players showed their improved confidence as a team and brought the match back on serve at 6-7. Unfortunately, that was as far as the Messiah pair would get. Tough returns and volleys by York’s Katelyn Acker and Paige Doutrich ended the late surge with a tough 6-8 loss for the Messiah top doubles squad, keeping the pair looking for their first win of the season. Despite that, Messiah (2-2) went into singles play with a strong 2-1 lead, seemingly bursting with confidence. Chen and Knepper kept to their race on the bottom two courts, finishing at about the same time and with similar results: Knepper’s use of the entire court, both side-to-side and front to back proved beyond her opponent as she cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory at the five singles flight, while Chen recovered from her tough loss in doubles with vengeance: She breezed through her first set and posted the first 6-0 set of the day. After dropping the first game of the second set, she exploded to a six game streak to end the match with a final score of 6-0, 6-1. “It felt good to make corrections in my game from doubles to singles,” commented Chen following the match. “I was able to stay down on my forehands and the results surpassed my expectations.” Gotchel and Thow were the next to come off the court, both victorious. Throw barreled through a well-fought 6-3, 6-3 match at third singles, taking advantage of the rare brake opportunities when they arose. “(Sarah’s) footwork was a bit tired today but her decisions on the court made up for it,” said Sheila Bush, Messiah head coach. “She showed some great poise out there.” Gotchel put the crowd through a roller coaster of a match on the next court down at the four spot. After controlling the first set 6-0, she fell with a surprising 3-6 backlash by her opponent. The third set was filled with long rallies and strategy changes, but Gotchel’s eventual use of the short slice pushed her to victory with a 6-3 third set win to seal the victory up for Messiah. Clark again battled at the Falcons’ number one spot again in lieu of senior Christie McGinley, who continues to rest due to a nagging illness. Clark’s match was filled with long rallies and sudden bursts of excitement, but York’s Acker proved consistent, and Clark was unable able to counter the multitude of opposing strategies. Clark fell 6-1, 6-2 in a match that the final score failed to accurately express the level of fight and intensity exerted. At the two singles spot, Marstaller may have had the closest match of the night. After losing the first set 3-6, she bounced back with a tough 6-1 second set win. As the match was already determined, a 10-point tiebreaker was played due to time constraints. Marstaller’s consistency and angled ground strokes pushed here past her opponent in the breaker 10-5.
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