Doubles carry Hornets to victory

Enumclaw High girls tennis coach Rick Carel was joking Monday morning when he said his team was 2 3/4 and 0 for the season, but it’s true. The Hornets posted wins against Yelm in the season opener and Capital Thursday, but its makeup contest with Peninsula was rained out again. This time, the rain came with the Hornets ahead 2-1 with two matches half complete.

Enumclaw High girls tennis coach Rick Carel was joking Monday morning when he said his team was 2 3/4 and 0 for the season, but it’s true. The Hornets posted wins against Yelm in the season opener and Capital Thursday, but its makeup contest with Peninsula was rained out again. This time, the rain came with the Hornets ahead 2-1 with two matches half complete.

Those two matches, Gina Sanders and Bedda Johnson at No. 3 doubles and Amanda Oster at No. 2 singles, will finish up the next time the two teams meet, either as a makeup game or at the end of the season when the Hornets head to Peninsula May 5.

Before the weather delay, Enumclaw’s No. 1 doubles pair of Anna Nelson and Lauren Redman pulled out a win, as did the Hornets’ doubles team of Julie Sanders and Breanna Pierce.

Morgan Johnson suffered a singles’ loss.

Against Capital Thursday, Nelson and Redman cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory. The two have given up just five games in three matches.

Pierce and Sanders won 6-4, 6-2 and Sanders and Johnson won 6-4, 7-5 to make it a doubles sweep.

Capital’s strong singles players made Alex Putman’s move up from junior varsity to varsity a rude awakening and Oster’s slide into the No. 1 singles position an equally rough transition.

The Hornets are idle through spring break, returning to South Puget Sound League 3A action Tuesday against the Panthers at 3:30 p.m. in Bonney Lake.