VENICE — Both Charlotte and Venice came into Wednesday’s battle on the beach with bmomentum.
The Tarpons sported a three-game winning streak — Estero, Mariner and Port Charlotte — while Venice had been winners of four in a row — Bradenton Christian, Port Charlotte, Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch.
Something had to give, though, with Venice putting another strong performance in a 4-1 win over Charlotte.
“All of our pairs are really starting to gel together,” Venice coach John Richards said. “We’ve been on a roll, and I’m really happy with the progression we’ve been taking. Charlotte’s tough. We had trouble with them last year, so I was pleased with what I saw.”
While Richards was satisfied with the effort from his team, that wasn’t a sentiment shared on the other side.
“Just being honest, we didn’t play our best game,” Charlotte coach Alyssa Latham said. “Something just didn’t quite gel out there for whatever reason. I feel like we needed more intensity than what we showed, and I told the girls that’s something we’ll be wanting to do more of later this week.”
The No. 1 matchup only went to two sets, but both frames came down to the final point.
Venice’s JaLynn Gardner and Brighton Ferguson won 21-19, 21-19, over Charlotte’s Abbie Willis and Julia Damico.
The first set was tight throughout, while Gardner and Ferguson had to fend off a comeback attempt from Willis and Damico in the second to secure the match win.
It was Gardner’s first match against her former team after transferring from Charlotte last fall.
Venice’s No. 2 tandem of Taylor Orris and Addie Lariviere won with ease over Charlotte’s Juliet Hurley and Piper Campbell in two sets (21-10, 21-12).
The Tarpons’ lone match win of the day came from the No. 3 team of Kylie and Kiera Vasquez, beating Venice’s Ali Estes and Melissa Apolonio in three sets (13-21, 21-14, 15-11).
“I thanked them for saving us from getting swept,” Latham said. “They showed up, they did what they were supposed to do, and they executed.”
It was a tough loss for Estis and Apolonio after winning the first set comfortably.
“They’ve been struggling a bit lately,” Richards said. “But they competed well against a good team, and really, both of them have been dealing with knee injuries. They’re getting closer to being fully healthy. I saw both of them jumping above the net (Wednesday), which is a good sign.”
The No. 4 match went three sets as well, with Venice’s Hilary Hupp and Jayda Lanham upending Charlotte’s Ava Hall and Sam Vega (22-20, 11-21, 15-11).
Venice’s most inconsistent pair has been its 5s throughout the season. However, Venice saw Julia Westlake and Allison Schapley put together a strong two-set win over Charlotte’s Savannah Massolio and Payton Stanton (21-11, 21-17).
“They’re the pair that’s been clicking the most over the past couple of weeks,” Richards said. “They were losing matches they shouldn’t have been losing early on, but that’s really disappeared. It’s nice to be able to count on my 5’s for that victory.”
With the win, Venice is now 6-2 with road matches against Lakewood Ranch and Port Charlotte next Tuesday and Thursday.
For Charlotte, The loss bumps it to 5-2 overall, with a match at home against North Port on Thursday.
“I’m obviously disappointed in how we played, and we have a lot of things to work on,” Latham said. “But, we’ll get to see (Venice) again later in the season, and we’ll be ready for them.”
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