Lady O doubles teams make a statement

Daily Sun sports

LINCOLN - Beatrice’s No. 2 doubles team of junior Amber Engler and sophomore Daleigh Fossler battled their way to a state championship Friday at the Class B Nebraska State High School Girls Tennis Championships in Lincoln.

Engler and Fossler won their semifinal match over Omaha Duchesne’s Jennifer Engel and Kate Webb, 6-1, 6-1, and then downed Kearney Catholic’s Ellen Baldwin and Janna Montgomery, 6-2, 6-3, in the finals.

The Lady Orange’s No. 1 doubles team of Jamie Gay and Mallory Johnsen finished second overall, falling to Kearney Catholic’s Nickola Massberger and Molly Heeney, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(3-7), in the finals after downing Omaha Skutt’s Christine Bolas and Julianne Kincaid, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, in the semifinals Friday morning.

Beatrice coach Phil Cook said after Engel and Webb lost the first point of the first set in the match with Duchesne �” probably due to nerves �” they won the next 11 points in a row.

“It was amazing to watch,” Cook said. “Every shot had more power than Duchesne could handle.”

The match against Kearney Catholic started similarly with a slow start, but the Lady O duo again hit their stride.

“They were hitting balls (Kearney Catholic) couldn’t touch,” he said. “They played so aggressively �” anything they wanted to do, they did.”

In No. 1 doubles, Cook said Gay and Johnsen found a way to win in the three-set match with Skutt, including a point the Lady O won as a result of a shot Johnsen made while sitting on her backside.

“That’s how aggressive they were,” Cook said.

While they fell just short in the final match to Kearney Catholic, Cook was complimentary with the effort, comparing the play to that of the college level.

“That was the best tennis I’ve seen in my five years of coaching,” he said. “It was unbelievable tennis.”