Rivalry Doesn't Live Up To Hype As E'Town Claims 9-0 Win
Posted: 9/24/2009
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Junior Stacey Clark took E'Town's Jess Russell to three sets, but it was as close as Messiah would come to a point.

Grantham, PA — For a Commonwealth Conference-opening match between two longtime rivals, this could not have been what the schedule makers had in mind.

Messiah dropped its worst defeat to Elizabethtown College in three years Thursday afternoon, suffering a 9-0 setback on Criste Courts.

The loss was the Falcons’ first home defeat of the season and first shutout loss since a 9-0 defeat at Lebanon Valley College on Sept. 26 of last year, also serving as the team’s first home defeat of the current season.

Sadly, things were never that close between the storied rivals.

Elizabethtown (2-0, 2-0) got off to a 3-0 start following doubles play, claiming 8-1, 8-3 and 8-2 decisions down the line. Senior Annie Gotchel and sophomore Sarah Thow provided Messiah (2-3, 0-1) its best effort at the number two doubles flight, but E’Town’s Allison Burkhardt and Madison Pipkin were just too much.

The same could be said for the majority of the Blue Jays’ singles players, as the visitors took all but one match in straight sets. Messiah got an outstanding effort from junior Stacey Clark in the number two singles position, but E’Town’s Jess Russell was able to outlast her in a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 10-7 marathon.

“Stacey really battled hard,” said Sheila Bush, Messiah head coach. “It just wasn’t our day today, in any aspect.”

Gotchel put up a respectable fight in the fifth singles position as well, dropping a 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) decision to the Blue Jays’ Alena Marani. Gotchel appeared to be taking her opponent to a dramatic third set as well, but an early lead from Marani in the tiebreak propelled her to the win.

Despite the loss, Messiah did receive a bit of good news on the afternoon, as senior Christie McGinley suited up and played for the first time since Tuesday, Sept. 8. McGinley had been out with a nasty illness, forcing all of the Falcons’ players to move up a position.

“It will take her awhile to get her legs completely under her, but it’s great to have her back on the courts,” Bush said of McGinley.

Messiah suffered a 5-4 loss to Elizabethtown last year, and dropped an 8-1 defeat to the Blue Jays during regular-season play in ’07. Thursday's result was Messiah's first 9-0 loss to E’Town since a shutout on the Blue Jays’ campus back on Sept. 26, 2006.

Messiah will look to get back to its winning ways in an out-of-conference match next, as the team will travel to Gettysburg College Saturday. Match time is slated for 3 p.m.