This past weekend, BG tennis players Jade Johnson and Katie Grubb went head-to-head against teammates Jessica Easdale and Mary-Catherine Beck in doubles during the Queen City Invitational in Cincinnati.
Though Johnson and Grubb beat their teammates in the tournament, Johnson says the competition stayed friendly.
‘When Katie and I had to play Jess and Mary, it felt like we were just playing at practice,’ Johnson said. ‘But it was fun to be playing in a more competitive atmosphere other than just at practice.’
For those not playing in the head-to-head Falcon match up, it was great to be able to cheer on both sides of the net, according to Christine Chiricosta.
‘[The match] was not that big of a deal to us because our practices are really competitive,’ Chircosta said. ‘No one wants to see anyone lose on the team and we just cheered for everyone. We looked at it as a good thing since both sets of girls had advanced to this point in the tournament.’
Grubb, a freshman, not only won the doubles match against her teammates, but also won her singles flight championship as well. In the championship round, Grubb lost only one game in her 6-0, 6-1 win against Ball State.
Easdale and Maddy Eccleston also advanced to the championship round before being defeated and taking the second place crowns at the C and B flights, respectively.
Team scores were not kept at the tournament, which was held at the Queen City Racquet Club. In individual play at the three-day tournament, the women went 21-8 in singles and 6-5 in doubles. The doubles record counts both the win and the loss the resulted from the dual team Falcon match.
Chiricosta said that the team had to overcome some obstacles but came out strong in the end.
‘I think we look really tough,’ Chiricosta said. ‘We faced some challenges with it being the first time for us traveling this year. We also played indoors for the first time this season on a faster surface than we’re used to. We’ve been practicing on a slower surface at [the Perrysburg Tennis Center] and we had to go adjust but everyone did really well.’
The women will complete their fall schedule when they head to Nashville Tenn., for the Belmont Invitational on Oct. 23 to 34.’
