Kelseyville needs a win Friday against Middletown to stay in title contention
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MENDOCINO >> Kelseyville’s title chances in the Coastal Mountain Conference North took a hit Tuesday as the Knights fell 3-2 to the Mendocino Cardinals in Mendocino.
Kelseyville (7-2) now trails Middletown (9-0) by two games in the standings as the season winds down. The Knights face a must-win situation Friday when they travel to the Hidden Valley Lake courts to play the conference leaders.
Kelseyville’s two wins came in first singles where Maddy Borghesani won 6-2, 6-1, and in third singles where Riley Lopez rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 7-2 victory (a tiebreaker was played in lieu of a third set because of time constraints).
“Maddy played one of her strongest matches of the season,” Kelseyville head coach Andy Dobusch said. “Great all-around match for her. She’s tough to beat when she’s firing on all cylinders and today was one of those days.”
Added Dobusch on the Lopez victory, “Riley looked good today, probably the best I’ve seen him play. He was smart and steady. The match wasn’t as close as the score made it seem. Riley probably shouldn’t have lost the first set, but he took control in the second set and was never threatened in the tiebreaker.”
Olivia Hommer fell 6-1, 6-1 in second singles.
“I was happy how well Olivia played considering her limited singles experience,” Dobusch said.
Olivia Raabe and Olivia Bushey dropped a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 decision in first doubles.
“This match could have gone either way,” Dobusch said. “Olivia Raabe was hitting bomb serves and Olivia Bushey was playing strong at the net. I think we win this match six or seven times out of 10, unfortunately today wasn’t one of them.”
Grace Peterson and Gemma Tanti fell 6-1, 6-0 in second doubles.
“Just too many unforced errors and they couldn’t have the serve of one of their opponents. There were flashes of good play and some great shots, we just have to work on consistency.”
