The Ross girls tennis team celebrates with coach Lisa Wolfe on the 200th win of her coaching career.
FREMONT – Berlin Swaisgood had the birthday Tuesday night, but she gave coach Lisa Wolfe a gift.
Swaisgood’s victory at No. 3 singles not only lifted the Lady Giants to their first win in program history against TRAC tennis power St. Ursula, it also gave Wolfe the 200th victory of her coaching career.
“I’m really proud, I took my time and focused on my match,” Swaisgood said. “She always keeps us positive, no matter what. Coming in we were kind of iffy about (if we could beat St. Ursula), and coach was ‘You guys got this, you can do this.’ She’s always really positive and she keeps us in line.”
Wolfe downplayed her milestone, more excited about her team’s surprise win over the Arrows, but acknowledged the satisfaction of having led the Lady Giants to sustained success on the court.
“It is a big deal,” Wolfe admitted. “But the win tonight for the girls was a bigger deal. Two hundred wins, that’s great but beating St. Ursula, 3-2 is greater.”
With both teams having won two matches and everyone gathered to watch the deciding match at No. 3 singles, Swaisgood rose to the occasion. She won the first set, 7-5, then cruised to the win in the second, 6-2.
Ross girls tennis coach and junior Berlin Swaisgood after Tuesday’s win over St. Ursula.
Late in the first set, Swaisgood and her opponent, Tatum Talbot, battled in an extended rally, with each player sending the ball back over the net at least 20 times. Finally, Tabot hit the ball into the net, giving Swaisgood the point. Swaisgood pumped her fist while Tabot bent over, angry and frustrated.
Swaisgood said the point wasn’t just any point, it was the match’s turning point.
“I think it’s definitely more than a point,” she said. “It gives you a mindset of. ‘I can win this,’ and helps you push through to get the win.”
Prior to the match, Wolfe had Swaisgood and Natalie Brown play one another to determine who would play No. 3 singles Tuesday and who would team with Sophia Biggins at No. 2 doubles. Wolfe said Swaisgood wanted to get the nod.
“She had so much confidence, even just playing against Natalie,” Wolfe said. “From the get-go, Berlin knew. She said, ‘I got it.’ She had a lot of confidence.”
No. 2 doubles was a nice fit for Brown as she and Biggins cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win.
“I think we did really good,” Brown said. “We’re both really good at the baseline. We’re not so good at net shots, but we proved ourselves today, and we didn’t have many net shots today, so that was good.”
Berlin Swaisgood, girls tennis
The No. 1 doubles team of Gillian Gallagher and Lily Abdoo won easily as well, 6-1, 6-1, giving Wolfe the sweep she expected in the doubles flights, but whether or not the Lady Giants could steal a singles match from the Arrows remained to be seen, until Swaisgood pulled through.
The Lady Giants (8-1 overall, 2-0 TRAC) return to the court Wednesday when they host Toledo Waite.