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Mifflin County falls in bout with Colts

Cedar Cliff sweeps MC in its opener

By Kyle Brady 4 min read

LEWISTOWN -- The Mifflin County girls tennis team began their season on Monday, as they took on Cedar Cliff in a Mid-Penn Conference matchup, at Mifflin County High School. The Huskies battled, but ultimately fell to the Colts, 5-0.

The Huskies lost a few key seniors from a year ago and are relatively inexperienced when it comes to varsity competition. Of the seven players that Mifflin County put on the court, only four were on the varsity squad a season ago: Olivia Kahley, Izzy Wagner, Lilly Riden and Aja Binder.

"We've got four seniors, two who have played. The other two really haven't had much experience. Our junior has experience but for the most part, we're pretty inexperienced in that respect," coach Glenn Kyle said.

Being a smaller program, Kyle and Mifflin County are used to being a lesser experienced team with a smaller roster, especially compared to other teams in the conference like Carlisle and State College, whose players begin competing at a young age.

"We don't really have (players) come in that have been playing for any more than four years," Kyle said. "We're just a typical team."

Binder played in the most competitive matchup of the afternoon, squaring off against Natalie Delevan in the No. 3 singles battle.

Delevan jumped out to an early lead, topping Binder in the first set, 6-1 and looked to take the momentum into the second set. However, Binder stepped up and fought to claw her way back into the match.

Binder had a quick serve that won her multiple points but was also not afraid to slow it down in order to keep it in play. Delevan was solid on her returns and limited her unforced errors, forcing Binder to create her own points.

Both players relied on their consistent backhands to keep the second set alive and going. Binder and Delevan were all knotted up at six after the second set and went to a tiebreaker.

Delevan held off Binder in the tiebreaker, 7-2, to take the second set.

"That's the first time Aja has played singles, so to be extended that long was good for her," Kyle said about the longest match of the afternoon. "She's a competitor. She plays basketball and she's an athlete. She'll learn from it, get in that situation again and maybe turn it."

Kahley and Wagner were bested in their singles matches as well. In the No. 1 singles match, Sydney Weyant defeated Kahley, 6-3, 6-0. Kahley was solid, but Weyant excelled in not giving the Huskies' No. 1 player any free points.

Left-hander Riley Boyer and her lightning quick serve made it tough for Wagner to set up any solid returns. With Boyer's low serves, Wagner had to settle for loft shots over the net which were easy returns Boyer, or low shots that didn't have the height to clear the net.

Boyer won the match 6-1, 6-0.

The Huskies' doubles teams of Lilly Riden-Kate Riden and Julie Diven-Melanie Liang put up tough fights in their matches, as well. In both doubles matches, many points were won at the net. When a serve was returned, the player waiting at the net would use an overhead smash to pick up the point.

Both teams used this strategy well--the difference maker for both matches were unforced errors, which favored the Colts.

Lilly and Kate Riden lost their match 6-4, 6-2 and Diven and Liang fell in their match, 6-2, 6-2.

As the season progresses, Kyle will look for his team to continue to improve each match and pick up varsity experience along the way. However, with Cedar Cliff being a young team, the Huskies' schedule only gets harder as the season grows longer.

"It's a little bit of everything. It's consistency in every aspect. We'll watch the plays being made and some shots being made that are really good, but then we just can't do that repetitively," Kyle said. "When teams can and are better at that than we are, then you get the results today. We'll hit one or two good shots, but then the focus on that third good shot isn't there yet."

Mifflin County (0-1 overall) will look to pick up a win, today against Carlisle.

Cedar Cliff 5, Mifflin County 0

Singles

Sydney Weyant, CC, def. Olivia Kahley, 6-3, 6-0

Riley Boyer, CC, def. Izzy Wagner, 6-1, 6-0

Natalie Delevan, CC, def. Aja Binder, 6-1, 6-6 (7-2)

Doubles

Hannah Bahn-Brooke Over, CC, def. Lilly Riden-Kate Riden, 6-4, 6-2

Alivia Zelei-Taylor Smith, CC, def. Julie Diven-Melanie Liang, 6-2, 6-2

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