Sometimes a slow start can be a motivating factor for victory.
Hickman defeated Marshall 6-3 on Thursday night at Hickman with half of the victories coming after the Kewpies dropped the first set.
Katie Glenn, Erin Onofrio and Lauren Brucks won their final set and their tiebreakers to give the Kewpies (7-6) the win.
Glenn defeated Bethany Shannon 1-6, 6-1, 10-7. Onofrio edged Krystle Chase 0-6, 6-2, 10-8, and Brucks beat Missy Eilers 4-6, 6-2, 10-6.
A player who is normally not on the varsity roster also helped the Kewpies.
Glenn paired with Rachel Miedema for a 10-5 victory at No. 2 doubles. The win helped the Kewpies sweep all three matches in doubles play. Glenn praised Miedema.
“She usually plays No. 1 for junior varsity, but (assistant coach Barb Glenn) just brought her up for experience,” Katie Glenn said. “She’s a pretty good doubles player.”
The Kewpies weren’t the only ones to mount a comeback, though. Tight matches marked the event.
Down 9-4 in the No. 1 doubles match, the Owls’ Chase and Nicki Erickson won six consecutive games but fell to Tammy Yasar and Kirsten Seaberg in the tiebreaker 7-3.
Erickson used a big serve to bring the Owls (11-4) close, but the consistent play of Seaberg helped the Kewpies withstand a furious comeback attempt. The win gave the Kewpies a commanding lead heading in to singles play.
Kewpies assistant coach Barb Glenn, filling in for coach Jerry Price while he attended his daughter’s college tennis match, said Yasar’s and Seaberg’s execution early in the match put the Owls at a quick deficit.
“When Kirsten and Tammy started, they were on fire,” Glenn said. “Kirsten was blasting overheads, and Tammy was serving a really wide serve to set up the points.”
Despite the loss, Marshall coach Tom Sandwith said his doubles team played with tenacity.
“(Erickson and Chase) just got too far down,” Sandwith said, “but that’s probably the second best comeback we’ve seen in doubles this year.”