Lady Wave sweeps Apollo tennis titles

From Journal Gazette & Times-Courier

EFFINGHAM – With Tiger Woods partially to credit, Mattoon sophomore Molly Nguyen is the Apollo Conference girls’ tennis singles champion.

Katie Ervin, Kristen Doty, Molly Nguyen, Caroline Zuhone, coach Dwight Perry, Allie Seaman, assistant coach Joey Boyer and Rachel Kaiser

“It was one of the best I’ve played for a while,” Nguyen said. “At the beginning of the season I wasn’t playing that well.

“Between matches I’ve been trying to calm myself down more and concentrate on what’s important. I usually read a quote every time before I go out and play. It’s a quote from Tiger Woods, not really about tennis. He talks about how when he’s in the clutch he gets through it with his competitiveness. When he needs to make a shot, he makes a shot.”

Nguyen made plenty of shots defeating Charleston’s Maegen Flight 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals and then Mount Zion’s Megan Bagelmann 6-1, 6-0 for the championship.

Mattoon’s Kristen Doty and Katie Ervin also posted two straight-set wins on Saturday four the doubles title leading Mattoon to the team championship.

After sharing the title with Charleston last year in its first season in the Apollo, the Lady Green Wave claimed it all by itself this year with two firsts and two thirds to outscore runner-up Mount Zion. Charleston was third but team scores were not available.

“It was a very good tournament for us,” Mattoon coach Dwight Perry said. “All of the girls performed. We went down Friday with the idea of everyone winning their first match. We did that. After Friday it was pretty much a given we were going to come out on top. The greedy person I am I was hoping for all-Mattoon finals on Saturday. We didn’t get there but we were close. A few more breaks and it might have been all-Mattoon in the championship.”

Nguyen got her singles title after finishing second as a freshman to Effingham’s Laura Hoeckstra last year.

“I moved my feet a lot,” Nguyen said. “I was more energetic. I didn’t really get nervous.”

The Mattoon standout was also glad to see her teammates have good showings.

“Everyone did well,” Nguyen said. “It is pretty exciting. We almost had a Mattoon-Mattoon final.”

Doty and Ervin had split a pair three-set matches earlier this season against Mount Zion’s Mara Lebo and Megan Crosby, who were seeded No. 1, but this time the second-seeded Mattoon duo pulled out a 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 match for the doubles title.

Read the full recap from Journal Gazette & Times-Courier.