Westfield Girls Tennis Falls to Centreville

Centreville girls tennis Coach Leslie O'Conner was faced with an all too important decision prior to her team's match against Westfield on Tuesday afternoon: use inexperienced substitutes in place of her No. 1- and No. 2-seeded players or move her entire roster up two rankings and use substitutes in the lower seeded matches. O'Conner's decision to choose the former option resulted in a 5-4 win that stopped a two-match losing streak moved her team to 3-2 in the Concorde District.

Out for the Wildcats were Jackie Lin, who was practicing with a symphony, and Cheryl Mazmanian, who  jammed a finger while playing with her dog earlier in the week. Playing for Mazmanian was Alison Dyer, who had only played one ranked match prior to Tuesday.

"My first match was horrible," said Dyer. "I was so nervous I could barely hit the ball."

According to O'Conner, Dyer has showed much improvement since her first match against Oakton earlier this season.

Strong winds forced Dyer to play her shots soft in order to control placement. This was a change for Sun, who prefers faced paced play and aggressive volleys at the net. Dyer struggled with her backhand which Sun exploited at every opportunity, and Sun also tested Dyer's stamina by forcing her to chase shots and run the court. Early in the match, Dyer's facial expression gave away her exasperation, as she found herself down 0-4 before breaking Sun's serve to win her first career game at Centreville.

"She has an amazing forehand," said Mazmanian when assessing Dyer's match. "But today I felt like she wasn't going for it as much. I guess with the wind she wanted to play it safe, but she normally puts a lot of spin on the ball. Other than that she did good. She made Emily work for every point."

Mazmanian knows the play of Sun too well, as last year she beat Sun in both matches they played. Sun went on to beat Dyer 10-4.

"Her goal was to not have a bagel game [as she did against Oakton]," said O'Connor about Dyer. "To watch her play now, where the ground strokes were solid and her serves were good, it's very nice to see."

At the end of singles competition the team score was tied at three, but the Bulldogs completely fell apart in doubles play. The match up of Sun and Gina Eberhart versus Chritina Park and Sarah Nguyen was completely one-sided, as Westfield struggled to land serves and play volley. The Wildcats showed an ability to communicate and play as a team, something that the Bulldogs lacked.

"Centreville gave us an advantage with one and two being out," said Westfield coach Stephen Lombard. "When you get those cards to play in your favor and you don't take advantage of it, it's a little disappointing."

Centreville's next opponent is Herndon.

Westfield plays next against Robinson.

Singles Results

Jamie Schoshinski (CVHS) vs Emili Hu (WFHS) 0-10

Alison Dyer vs Emily Sun 4-10

Chritina Park vs Luisa Lacsamana 9-11

Sarah Nguyen vs Gina Eberhart 10-2

Shauna Kistner vs Jenny Chau 10-6

Astrid Unson vs Jessica Ehinger 10-7

Doubles Results

Dyer & Schoshinski vs Hu & Lacsamana 7-10

Park & Nguyen vs Sun & Eberhart 10-0

Unson & Kistner vs Chau & Cat Do 10-2