By Kim J. Harmon

It isn’t so much the 4-1 that speaks volumes about how far the Newtown High School girls’ tennis team has come in a short period of time, but the impressive showing against an undefeated Weston team last Friday.

Sure, the Lady Nighthawks dropped a 5-2 decision, but coach Jean Kunkel knows four of those five losses were contested hard and one or two of them could have gone the other way.

“This is a breakthrough for us,” said coach Kunkel, “because in previous years we always lost 7-0. Almost every match was competitive and while we managed to win two games, we should have won three.”

Wins over Notre Dame last week and Stratford on Monday helped the ‘Hawks improve to 4-1 overall.

In the loss to Weston, Caroline Kunkel dropped a 6-2, 6-4 decision to Perris Richter at No. 1 singles and Brittany Meier dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to Katherine-Anne Miller at No. 2 singles. Tara Ryan earned a 6-0, 6-3 win over Brittany Wilbanks at No. 3 singles and Michelle Serock toughed out a 6-3, 6-2 win over Maryclaire Foster at No. 4 singles.

“The singles were interesting because each player was matched up with an opponent who played the same style,” said Kunkel. “Caroline and Perris (Richter) were exchanging hard driving shots from corner to corner and rushing the net after a short shot. Brit and Katherine-Anne were playing the baseline with nice, deep controlled strokes. Weston had to earn those wins.”

Christina Andrews and Kim Allen were locked up in a duel at No. 1 doubles and ended up falling 7-5, 5-7, 4-6 to Sam Linder and Katie Sandford. Jill Tanner and Ashley Gabor fell 6-0, 6-1 to Christina Toutaungi and Liz Fleming at No. 2 doubles and Emily Fields and Sarah Salbu fell 6-3, 6-3 to Alex Geller and Heidi Sandford at No. 3 doubles.

“Christina was an intimidating presence at the net,” said coach Kunkel, “poaching and hitting smashing volleys that were unreachable. And Kim ran down every ball on the baseball. Unfortunately they just ran out of steam in the final set.”

In the win over Notre Dame, Kunkel dropped a tough 6-2, 6-0 decision to Pam Pillo at No. 1 singles. But Meier defeated Christine Dancy 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 at No. 2 singles, Ryan defeated Kate Makara 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 singles and Serock defeated Tara Cancelieri 6-3, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.

Andrews and Allen breezed through a 17-minute match over Jen Doughty and Courtney Berard, winning 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 doubles. Tanner and Gabor recorded a 6-0, 6-0 sweep over Fran Sorrentino and Darren Stowe at No. 2 doubles and Stephanie Greenfield and Christina Elsenhans eased through a 6-2, 6-0 win over Andrea Canuel and Contienne Lean at No. 3 doubles.

“I was proud of Brittany,” said coach Kunkel. “She lost the first set but won the second set in a tie break and then rode her momentum into the third set. She realized that Christine (Dancy) liked pace and never let her get into a rhythm. It was a gutsy, smart game plan.”

In the win over Stratford, Kunkel earned a 6-1, 6-1 win over Judy Castaneda at No. 1 singles while Meier earned a 6-, 6-1 win over Katie Ivers at No. 2 singles and Ryan earned a 6-1, 6-0 win over Angelina Viloante at No. 3 singles. The best match of the day was at No. 4 singles, where Danielle Alpert dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Shontel Davis.

Andres and Allen earned a 6-0, 6-0 sweep at No. 1 doubles over Lauren Wood and Molly Sabas and Tanner and Gabor did the same at No. 2 doubles over Mirielle Yoassaint and Ashley Gray. Stephanie Corleto and Elsenhans earned a 6-0, 6-1 win over Kristin Ford and Jade Marshall at No. 3 doubles.

After a match against Bethel on Wednesday, the ‘Hawks will travel to Monroe on Monday, May 5, to take on Masuk and will host Jonathan Law on Tuesday, May 6. A match against Immaculate will follow on Wednesday.