Hawks jelling on the court

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Woodland’s Ali Mayne returns a shot during her match versus St. Paul’s Natasha Kempes April 6 in Beacon Falls. The Hawks defeated St. Paul, 5-2. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI
Woodland’s Ali Mayne returns a shot during her match versus St. Paul’s Natasha Kempes April 6 in Beacon Falls. The Hawks defeated St. Paul, 5-2. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI

BEACON FALLS — A 3-0 start to the season has Woodland girls tennis coach Kate Gavigan liking what she’s seeing on the court.

“We are starting to jell as a team,” Gavigan said. “I’m seeing potential in our doubles teams but we still have some mountains to climb.”

The Hawks picked up their third win after upending Kennedy, 6-1, Monday at Chase Park in Waterbury.

No. 2 singles player Katie Rioux and No. 3 singles player Amanda Doughney remained undefeated at 3-0 after picking up convincing 8-2 wins versus the Eagles.

Ali Mayne, who has the responsibility of taking on the opponent’s top player, improved to 2-1 on the season with an 8-0 win against the Eagles No. 1 Edoria Roci.

Aly Pettas won the deciding match, 8-1, in the No. 4 singles before the Woodland doubles teams finished out the match.

The Hawks No. 1 doubles team of Elif Abedin and Paige Gainey ran into trouble and came up on the short end of an 8-6 decision.

The No. 2 double squad of Angelina Padilla and Alyssa Varesio remained unbeaten on the season with a convincing 8-3 win over Kennedy. The No. 3 doubles team of Morgan Stockheimer and Ariana Sherwood improved to 2-1 on the season with an 8-0 victory.

Woodland’s Amanda Doughney attacks the ball at the net during her match versus St. Paul April 6 in Beacon Falls. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI
Woodland’s Amanda Doughney attacks the ball at the net during her match versus St. Paul April 6 in Beacon Falls. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI

Woodland’s Amanda Doughney attacks the ball at the net during her match versus St. Paul April 6 in Beacon Falls. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI

“We still need to work on our communication out on the court,” Gavigan said. “Playing doubles is like an art covering the court in harmony. We are still a bit disconnected out there.”

The Hawks picked up a pair of wins to start the season last week defeating St. Paul, 5-2, April 6 and pulling out a 4-3 victory over Seymour April 8.

Rioux and Doughney earned victories in the single matches versus St. Paul, but the match was decided by the doubles teams. The Hawks were a perfect 3-0 in doubles to win the first match of the season over the Falcons.

Woodland gained a 3-1 advantage over Seymour with Mayne, Rioux and Doughney picking up wins in the singles portion of the match. The Hawks needed to pull out one more match and the doubles team of Padilla and Varesio provided that winning margin.

“I started a big racket-little racket where our older players are mentoring our younger players and we are seeing positive results already,” Gavigan said. “We are really going to be tested this week with three matches in three days ending with Naugatuck, and they are always tough.”

Woodland is scheduled to play Wilby on Wednesday and Ansonia on Thursday. The Hawks will take on the Greyhounds in Naugatuck on Friday.