St. Mary’s College of Maryland freshman Addyson Harden, right, returns a serve in the Seahawks’ women’s No. 1 doubles match against Penn State Brandywine alongside freshman teammate Lily Ganjbaksh. Harden, a Great Mills High School alum and Ganjbaksh combined to prevail in that match.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland freshman Lily Ganjbaksh fires a serve across the net toward Penn State Brandywine junior Samma Zahran in their women’s No. 1 singles match on Saturday afternoon. Ganjbaksh won that match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, and the Seahawks women remained perfect in United East Conference play.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland sophomore Alex Lyman prepares to deliver a backhand return in Saturday’s United East Conference match against visiting Penn State Brandywine.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland freshman Addyson Harden, right, returns a serve in the Seahawks’ women’s No. 1 doubles match against Penn State Brandywine alongside freshman teammate Lily Ganjbaksh. Harden, a Great Mills High School alum and Ganjbaksh combined to prevail in that match.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland freshman Lily Ganjbaksh fires a serve across the net toward Penn State Brandywine junior Samma Zahran in their women’s No. 1 singles match on Saturday afternoon. Ganjbaksh won that match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, and the Seahawks women remained perfect in United East Conference play.
Saturday afternoon when the St. Mary’s College of Maryland tennis team welcomed Penn State Brandywine for a United East Conference match, there was a good blend of youth and experience that enabled the Seahawks’ men’s and women’s teams to upend the Nittany Lions.
The St. Mary’s women (8-4 overall, 5-0 in the UEC) have underdone a modest youth movement of sorts with freshmen Lily Ganjbaksh and Addyson Harden, a Great Mills High School product, leading the way.
On Saturday afternoon, Ganjbaksh and Harden combined to win their women’s doubles match against the Nittany Lions then Ganjbaksh defeated Penn State’s Samma Zahran in their women’s number one singles match, 6-4, 6-1.
“It usually takes me a little while to feel settled,” said Ganjbaksh, a graduate of Winston Churchill High School in Montgomery County. “Today the first set was really close, but then I started to get more confidence in my backhand. It’s usually more of a mental game for me. I need to do a better job just playing and reacting instead of thinking about my shots. I like playing with Addyson. She’s great at the net and she’s good at poaching and I like playing the back line.”
Ganjbaksh and Harden indeed proved complementary in last Saturday’s victory over Penn State Brandywine, with Ganjbaksh covering the backline swiftly while Harden used her reach to dispatch soft shots that just cleared the net. Both players also served well, something that Ganjbaksh also later displayed in her singles’ match tally.
“Lily is a great doubles’ partner,” said Harden, who belatedly discovered a fondness for jazz dance during her freshman year at St. Mary’s College. “She covers a lot of ground along the baseline and we communicate well with one another. We do a lot of talking between sets to make sure we are both in the right place on each point.”
The St. Mary’s women cruised to a 7-0 victory over Penn State Brandywine (3-6, 1-3) as Sarah Levit and Lily Spadden won their No. 2 doubles match with Sofia Guzman and Sydney Mabry 6-0, and Hazel Honeycutt and Jenna Roh combined to top Natalie DiMario and Hope Priemon 6-2.
Levit (No. 2 singles), Spedden (No. 3 singles) and junior Lauren Lovejoy (No. 4 singles) also won their matches.
Likewise, the St. Mary’s men (6-5, 3-0) also coasted past Penn State Brandywine (0-8, 0-3) by the identical 7-0 count. Alex Lyman and Jacob Nelson won their No. 1 doubles match 6-2, Max Esztergomi and Andrew Hand prevailed 6-2 in their No. 2 doubles match and Joey Carson and Dylan Courtney combined to win their No. 3 doubles match 6-0.
In men’s singles play, Esztergomi (No. 1), Nelson (No. 2) and Lyman (No. 3) also won their matches in 6-0 fashion, while Hand, Nate Willoughby and Carson also posted straight sets victories in their singles matches to enable the Seahawks to complete the sweep over the Nittany Lions.
“We’ve got a really good group of men’s and women’s players this season and we’re looking to peak heading into our Gold Rush game against Penn State Harrisburg [on April 14],” said St. Mary’s College first-year tennis coach Eric Heisler, a SMCM alumnus and a teacher at Patuxent High School for 20 years after spending five years at Leonardtown High. “They’re our main rival and we’re hoping to be playing our best tennis of the season heading into that match.”
Heisler added, “It’s been an enjoyable experience thus far. I have always enjoyed everything that St. Mary’s College has to offer.”
Twitter:@TedSoMdNews
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