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PCHS tennis squad sweeps Union

The Park City High School girls’ tennis team is full of confidence and hitting its stride during Region 10 play.

The Miners’ singles players — No. 1 Livi Rockwood, No. 2 Gabby Rockwood and No. 3 Taylor Matz — are working to cement themselves as the top singles lineup in 3A and took another step toward that goal on Tuesday against Union at the PC MARC.

Both Rockwood twins and Matz earned 6-0, 6-0 victories against overmatched Cougar opponents. The No. 1 doubles team of Marina Mayo and Julianna Signor also earned a 6-0, 6-0 win. To complete the team sweep, No. 2 doubles Caileigh Lydon and Marisa Zanetti picked up a 6-1, 6-1 victory and No. 3 doubles Tushig Tsogtbaatar and Emma Pensky won their match 6-2, 6-2.

Despite cruising to an easy win, Park City Coach Tamarin Espinoza said the Miners made it look easier than it actually was.

"Union’s No. 1 player, Ashley Hansen, was undefeated until she met also-undefeated Livi Rockwood," she said. "Ashley Hansen is a good player — Livi’s just a better player."

Though the singles players all dominated their matches, Espinoza said there’s competition between the girls to keep them focused.

"They have a little game going on with themselves based on how many games they let go," she said. "They’re good players and I don’t have to worry about them [during the match]. They’re competitive with each other, as they should be. They’re friends off the court and competitors on the court and that’s how it should be. To see them go on the court and challenge themselves in a way of, ‘You know what, I’m going to see if I can get out of this [without losing a game],’ is nice to see. It’s nice that they have those expectations of themselves."

After the three doubles teams lost at Grantsville in a 3-3 match draw last week, Espinoza said it was good to see them bounce back against Union.

"The doubles teams played great," she said. "Marisa and Caileigh only let two games by. The first thing I said to them was that was a great match coming out of Grantsville. They didn’t play badly at Grantsville. They played extremely well; Grantsville was just a little better. It was good for them to come out of that match and have this confidence booster."

Next week, the Miners get a reprieve from a busy early season schedule. Park City’s only match of the week is Thursday at home against Stansbury. Espinoza said the mini-break will be nice.

"It’s a little midseason recovery, just a break," she said. "They’ve been competing a lot, which is good for them, but the break will be good for them, too. They’ll have three days before the match to home in on some strategic things in practice and work on them a lot."

The next big match on Park City’s schedule is Tuesday, Sept. 22, at home against Grantsville. Espinoza said the Miners can’t overlook that match and assume a Region 10 title.

"I’m not looking at region yet," she said. "I may have been a couple weeks ago and that was a little hasty on my part. We’ve got to get through Grantsville again, and get through them better. We’re undefeated at home, so it’ll be a huge advantage."

Thursday’s match against Stansbury is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. at the PC MARC.


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