Close match goes in MMI’s favor
The Lady Warriors came as close as they could to snagging a win against the Lady Tigers of Marion Military Institute on Saturday but fell just short, 5-4. The loss moves ECCC to 1-1 on the young season and moves the Tigers to 1-2.
ECCC’s Natalia Beltran (Bogota, Colombia) and Alejandra Vargas (Bogota, Colombia) were in action at No. 1 doubles, but fell to MMI’s Julia Kelly and Madelyn Dibble, 8-3. Anna Moore (Decatur) and Sarah Cline (Brandon) paired up in the No. 2 slot and lost to Anna Walker and Eva Crosset, 8-2, while Madison Autry (Kosciusko) and Madison Gregg (Maben) took care of business at No. 3 doubles with an 8-0 blanking over Catherine Taylor and Sarah Jeong.
“Like our men yesterday, the women played hard,” said ECCC head coach Jay Pacelli. “We just lost in the doubles play.”
The teams split points in the six singles matches with each squad escaping with three. Beltran fell to Kelly at No. 1, 6-0, 6-4, while Vargas lost at the No. 2 slot to Walker 6-1, 6-0. Cline dropped the No. 3 match to Dibble, 6-2, 6-0, but the Lady Warriors turned things around down the line up as Moore rolled past Crossett 6-0, 6-1. Courtney Gill (Carthage) picked up a big win at No. 5 singles over Taylor 6-0, 6-0, and Laila Sisson (Collinsville) rounded it out at No. 6 with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Jeong.
“Anna, Courtney, Laila, and ‘the Madisons’ really took care of business today,” said Pacelli.
The Lady Warriors were originally scheduled to play on Tuesday, February 2 against Holmes, but due to the Lady Bulldogs not fielding a team in 2021, ECCC’s next match will be in Decatur on Friday, February 5 as they face the Jones College Lady Bobcats at 2 p.m.
Warriors fall to Tigers of Marion Military
The Tigers of Marion Military Institute (2-1) and the East Central Warriors (1-1) squared off Friday afternoon in an early-season matchup. East Central battled hard but ultimately fell to MMI, 6-3.
The mid-morning match started with doubles play where the Warriors picked up one of three available points. Chris Lawrance (York, Australia) and Isaac Santitto (Innisfall, Australia) played at No. 1 for the Warriors and defeated Tanjuatco/Hunter 8-2. Ian Gordon (Vicksburg) and Chris Albert (Vicksburg) dropped the match at No. 2 versus Smith/Warner 8-1, while Garrett Crimm (Mathiston) and Samuel Turner (Mathiston) fell in a tough 8-4 loss to Ingram/Delvalle.
Lawrence was back in the No. 1 spot for ECCC in singles play and won a nail-biter against MMI’s Joseph Tanjuatco 7-5, 7-5. Santitto played No. 2 for the Warriors and fell in a back-and-forth, mental and physical match versus Eddie Hunter 6-2, 2-6 (10-8). Albert fell at No. 3 to Dom Ingram 6-4, 6-2, while Gordon lost to Preston Smith 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4. Crimm lost a hard-fought match at No. 5 versus Carson Johnson 6-4, 4-6, (10-4), and Steed Springfield (Vicksburg) picked up the Warriors final point of the day at No. 6 with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Drake Delvalle. Jonathan Calzadilla (Forest) and Jacob Gardner (Waynesboro) played unofficial single-set matches and fell to the Tigers.
The Warriors were on the road on Feb. 2, as the team faced the Holmes Bulldogs.
