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Prep Report: Cape takes first tennis loss

By Staff | Mar 6, 2009

Cape Coral High senior Renee Deane shook off some early struggles with her serve Thursday and took control in a No. 1 singles match against Fort Myers’ Stephanie Fall.

Overall, though, the visiting Green Wave proved their dominance in handing the Seahawks boys’ and girls’ tennis teams their first losses of the season. The Green Wave boys won 7-0 and the girls won 5-2.

Before running into the powerful Wave squads, the Seahawks had emerged as the best in the West Zone through the early portion of the season.

“We beat everyone in Cape Coral,” Seahawks boys’ coach Dave Fortner said. “Now we’re playing some of the other teams that are pretty tough, so we’re getting into the meat of the schedule.”

Both Cape teams are now 5-1. Depth has been a key to their early success.

The boys are a young squad, led by junior Joel Silverberg, the No. 1 singles player. Sophomores Arthemon Lis and Alex Ragonese, Nos. 2 and 3, each started off 4-0 before losing to Fort Myers.

Silverberg took the first set against Fort Myers’ Mike Green 6-4, but lost the second set 6-2, and the tiebreaker 10-4. Ragonese also went to a tiebreaker, falling 10-5 to Nick Alexander.

Junior Shane Pacheco and freshman Najja Derrick were involved in competitive matches at Nos. 4 and 5, but lost in straight sets.

The Seahawks’ lone senior, Dylon Dixon, played a junior varsity match and won over Scott Jeon 6-2, 6-4.

Fortner, in his second year guiding the boys’ team, has seen an increase in participation. There were 30 players at tryouts and 23 still participating. They cut down for varsity, but other members practice with the team and play JV.

The girls’ team also has benefitted from their depth. Deane, who signed a scholarship with Mount St. Mary’s University before the season, is the Seahawks’ top player, but others have shown good progress, including sophomore Kaitlyn Dampier and junior Ella Baar.

The Seahawks were shorthanded Thursday with two of their top five, Danielle Carter and Emily Chote, participating in the Southwest Florida Model United Nations at FGCU.

In No. 1 singles, Deane had some trouble landing her first serve, which caused her to drop one game in the first set. Once that was corrected, she began to take command with powerful, accurate baseline shots.

She defeated Fall 6-1, 6-2 to improve to 6-0 on the year.

“I knew I had to pick it up,” Deane said. “I just have to keep my head up and watch the ball more and try not to get in those slumps. I felt that I pulled through it.”

Later on, Deane and sophomore Kaitlyn Dampier teamed up at No. 1 doubles and outlasted Fall and Emma Joslyn in a thrilling match, 8-6.

The Seahawks return to action next Thursday when they host Cypress Lake.

Girls Singles – Renee Deane (CC) def. Stephanie Fall 6-1, 6-2; Emma Joslyn (FM) def. Aimee Dolorfino 6-1, 6-1; Katelyn Dorward (FM) def. Kaitlyn Dampier 6-3, 6-4; Shonda Kumar (FM) def. Ella Baar 6-0, 6-0; Amelia Wright (FM) def. Brooke Blythe 6-1, 6-2.

Girls Doubles – Deane-Dampier (CC) def. Fall-Joslyn 8-6; Underberg-Dorward (FM) def. Baar-Dolorfino 8-6.

Boys Singles – Mike Green (FM) def. Joel Silverberg 4-6, 6-2 (10-4); Jake Duvall (FM) def. Arthemon Lis 6-1, 6-0; Nick Alexander (FM) def. Alex Ragonese 4-6, 6-1 (10-5); S.Francis (FM) def. Shane Pacheco 6-3, 7-5; Armando Grez (FM) def. Najja Derrick 6-3, 6-3.

Boys Doubles – Scholl-Wiles (FM) def. Silverberg-Lis 8-3; Duvall-Alexander (FM) def. Ragonese-Pacheco 8-3.

Girls Tennis

Bishop Verot 7, Riverdale 0: Sophomore Mariel Rickert dropped a tough first set, but rallied to defeat Riverdale’s Bailey Diserio, and the host Vikings won the other six matches in straight sets.

Rickert fell 6-7 in the opening set, but cruised the rest of the way. Linda Kornienko, Nia-Marie Eddy, Kayla Cheslosky and Kathleen Norris also notched singles victories.

The Vikings (4-0) host Canterbury Tuesday at the Aces Tennis Center.

Singles – Linda Kornienko (BV) def. Haylie Gutierrez 6-0, 6-2; Mariel Rickert (BV) def. Bailey Diserio 6-7, 6-1, 6-2; Nia-Marie Eddie (BV) def. Katie Henderson 6-1, 6-0; Kayla Cheslosky (BV) def. Justine Lukas 6-1, 6-1; Kathleen Norris (BV) def. Kendall Hennings 6-4, 6-3.

Doubles – Kornienko-Rickert (BV) def. Gutierrez-Diserio 8-6; Eddie-Cheslosky (BV) def. Henderson-Strathan 8-1.

Mariner 4, Island Coast 3: Adrienne Wadsworth continued her strong play at No. 3 singles and the Tritons edged Island Coast.

Wadsworth won 6-0, 6-1 over Heather Dabroski, one of four singles wins for the Tritons.

Island Coast’s Kenzi Polotto won at No. 1 singles and the Gators swept the doubles matches.

Mariner hosts Fort Myers Thursday. Island Coast hosts Fort Myers March 17,

Singles – Kenzi Polotto (IC) def. Elizabeth Burchers 6-0, 6-2; Madison Fletcher (M) def. Kelsey Gates 6-3, 7-5; Adrienne Wadsworth (M) def. Heather Dabroski 6-0, 6-1; Monica Amaya (M) def. Tatiana Bourey 6-0, 6-0, Mariner by forfeit.

Doubles – Polotto-Bourey (IC) def. Burchers-Tori Webb-Martin 8-6; Gates-Dabroski (IC) def. Taylor Witnick-Kayshell Trudell 8-0.

Ida Baker 7, Cypress Lake 0: Sarah Leny and Kourtney Kamp prevailed 10-3 in a tiebreaker at No. 2 doubles, giving the Bulldogs a sweep of Cypress Lake at Rutenberg Park.

The Bulldogs No. 2 and No. 3 players, Kjerstine Payne and Leny, did not drop a game in winning singles matches.

The Bulldogs (3-2) play North Fort Myers Friday at Hancock Park.

Singles – Amanda Teets (B) def. Diana Morganthal 6-0, 6-1; Kjerstine Payne (B) def. Mercedes Bunner 6-0, 6-0; Sarah Leny (B) def. Hailey Houston 6-0, 6-0; Amanda Seder (B) def. Maura Dowling 6-2, 6-0; Shayna Talbot (B) def. Jamie Busch 6-1, 6-2.

Doubles – Teets-Payne (B) def. Morganthal-Bunner 8-0; Leny-Kourtney Kamp (B) def. Houston-Dowling 8-8 (10-3).

Boys Tennis

Mariner 4, Island Coast 3: The Tritons prevailed in a hard-fought match at Island Coast, getting singles wins from Tim Connelly, Danville Bent, Nathaniel Gunnin and Steven Allen.

Island Coast’s Colton Weiser won in straight set at No. 1 singles against Aaron Smith 6-1, 7-5, and teamed with Nathan Rodill to win at No. 1 doubles.

A thrilling match occurred at No. 2 doubles. Island Coast’s tandem of Ron Lind and Dominic Capizzi defeated Jonathan Delgado and Derick Adams 8-8 (10-8).

Due to the FCATs, Mariner (3-2) is off until next Thursday when it hosts Fort Myers. Island Coast is off until March 17 when it hosts Fort Myers.

Singles – Colton Weiser (IC) def. Aaron Smith 6-1, 7-5; Tim Connelly (M) def. Nathan Rodill 6-4, 6-0; Danville Bent (M) def. Ron Lind 6-4, 6-0; Nathaniel Gunnin (M) def. Dominic Capizzi 6-1, 6-1; Steven Allen (M) def. Chris Quiroga 6-0, 6-0.

Doubles – Weiser-Rodill def. Connelly-Gunnin 8-6; Lind-Capizzi def. Jonathan Delgago-Derick Adams 8-8 (10-8).

Softball

North Fort Myers 12, Lehigh 0: Maria Fernandez cracked a two-run triple in the third inning to kickstart North’s runaway victory at Lehigh.

Fernandez had two hits while Alyssa Dougherty contributed three hits. Jackie Owen (9-0) pitched three innings and struck out seven.

North (10-0) hosts Fort Myers Thursday.

North Ft. Myers005 52 – 12 11 0

Lehigh000 00 – 0 2 3

W – Jackie Owen (9-0). L – Quinonez.

3B – Mariah Fernandez (NFM).

Baseball

Island Coast 12, Southwest Florida Christian 0: Island Coast made the most of six base hits to back the pitching of Taylor Renegar in a five-inning shutout victory.

Renegar did not give up a hit over five innings and struck out 10 batters.

Jordan Moody had two hits for the Gators (3-5), who host Sarasota Out-of-Door Academy next Friday.

SWF Christian000 00 – 0 0 3

Island Coast703 2x – 12 6 0

W – Taylor Renegar (2-1). L – Doensting.

2B – Randy Petito (IC).

North Fort Myers 15, Lehigh 5: Michael Becker and Chase Vogelbach drove in four runs apiece with seven hits between them to power North Fort Myers to victory at Lehigh.

Becker was 3-for-3, including two doubles, and scored four times. Vogelbach was 4-for-4 and scored four times.

North (4-4) hosts Fort Myers Thursday.

North Ft. Myers 203 127 0 – 15 15 2

Lehigh 103 001 0 – 5 9 2

W – Ivan Melendez (2-0). L – Whiteleather.

2B – Vidal (L), Michael Williams (N), Michael Becker (N) 2, Ivan Melendez (N), Chase Vogelbach (N), Austin Smith (N). 3B – Tim Sommer (N). HR – Ralphy Elmi (N).

Girls Lacrosse

Cape Coral 11, Cypress Lake 10: Junior Jamie Whetsell had the scoring touch, delivering nine goals in the Seahawks’ one-point win at Cypress Lake.

The Seahawks appeared to be in command, but needed to survive a late comeback attempt by the Panthers.

Alex Gibson scored two goals for the Seahawks (3-3). Tara Murza made 19 saves in the net and Joanna Russell tallied three interceptions.

Cape plays at Riverdale Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Sports editor Jim Linette contributed to this report.