ENGLEWOOD — The Lemon Bay boys and girls tennis teams both have a date in Naples on Thursday in the Region 2A-6 finals after both teams won their respective matches against Estero at the Roach/Maier Tennis Complex.
The teams will travel to Naples to battle Aubrey Rogers for the Region 2A-6 championship.
The way they won their matches were completely different, with the boys winning with ease while the girls had to battle to earn their slot.
The 4-3 victory for the Manta Ray girls showed just how important depth is at this point of the season. And it showed who the true MVP of this squad has been.
Senior Rosey Lowder has played in No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles the entire season, and her next defeat this season would be her first … if it even comes at all.
Lowder’s victory over Sofia Passos in singles (6-2, 6-0) and her win in doubles with Sihara Padrino over Passos and Charlotte Snow helped provide the difference and moved her overall season record to 25-0.
Lemon Bay coach Darrell Roach said that while Estero’s top two may have been better, Lemon Bay was deeper.
“We needed to win Nos. 3, 4, 5 and No. 2 doubles and that’s exactly what we did to get our four points,” Roach said. “Rosey has been hard to top this year. She’s been to states in doubles and she’s as good as many of them out there. What makes the difference for her is her focus and tenacity.”
Lowder said she knew Lemon Bay would have to win the lower matches to win the day.
“I knew their top two are really good. I just wanted to stay focused on my match and not look outside of it,” Lowder said. “I wanted to play smart today and not go for too much. I knew she had a weaker backhand and I wanted to target that.”
The Manta Rays (14-1) were helped by a forfeit in the No. 5 singles match which Estero’s Emily McDowell couldn’t play because an illness that caused her to retire in last week’s districts.
Rules dictate a team cannot just plug someone else in their place in the postseason. That put the Wildcats a player short and at a disadvantage.
Estero’s top two did their job, with No. 1 Meghan Lay beating Lemon Bay’s Parker Zautcke 6-4, 6-1, and No. 2 Gianella Salas-Gechele downing Avery Shirley 6-1, 6-2. The two combined to win No. 1 doubles 4-1, 4-2.
Padrino beat Charlotte Snow in No. 4 singles 6-0, 6-1.
The boys’ match was not nearly as competitive as the Mantas notched a 4-0 victory. Steven Ethier shut out Bradley Donofrio in No. 1 singles while James Hitt downed Philip Walczak in No. 5 singles 6-4, 6-1.
Ethier and Hunter Andres took out Donofrio and Nicholas Snow in No.1 doubles 4-0, 4-0, while Nils Ruhland and Logan McGinty held off Jacobi Weinberg and John Harty 5-3, 4-2 in No. 2.
Coach Seamus McCarthy said the Manta Rays (13-3), coming off a clean sweep at the District 2A-11 championships, had very little depth this season, but avoided injury and took up where they left off in districts.
But the job isn’t finished.
“We had six guys come out, so it wasn’t as big a team as we’ve had. We had quality players come out and stay healthy,” McCarthy said. “Steven and Hunter are going to states in doubles. The goal now is to win Thursday so the rest of them can go.”
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