No. 2? No problem Londonderry downs second-place Manchester West

By Ryan Lambert
Staff Writer

May 14, 2008 05:14 am

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While its star struggled, the rest of the Londonderry girls tennis team cruised.

Londonderry, the top team in Class L with 12-0 record, downed then-No. 2 Manchester West. The Lancers won 6-3 over West to remain undefeated, dropping West to 10-2. Though the match was closer than any Londonderry had played so far, most of its wins were very decisive.

"This was the closest," said Patti Milka, whose team is off to the best start in program history. "We knew it was going to be. They were strong last year, and we knew this would be one of the most competitive."

The Lancers did so despite star Kelli Murphy struggling as badly as she had all year. West's Sam Jean pushed her to the limit at No. 1 singles before Murphy finally prevailed 8-5.

Despite the struggles, Murphy seemed dominant at times. In the fourth game, she crushed a pair of back-to-back serves that Jean had no hope of even getting to, let alone returning, to go up 3-1.

Jean refused to go quietly, though, and was clearly a match for the Londonderry sophomore Milka calls the best in the state. She was able to force the score to 6-5 and putting a real scare into Murphy before finally succumbing to the inevitable. In the decisive game, Murphy effortlessly dropped ball after ball right on the line, and Jean had no answer.

The eventual win kept Murphy undefeated on the season, though this was the first time all year she won by less than five games.

"She is undefeated," said Milka, who was hesitant to use the term 'off day.' "Kelli stayed steady with her game and stepped it up when she needed to. Her determination and focus kept her going. She got back into it. She was up a couple and then it got close, but she dug deeper. It's her determination and ability to refocus herself and knowing she could do it (that got her through)."

At No. 2, Ali McKinney trounced Liz Mahler 8-0, while Jen Kutt breezed past Christina Donegan 8-1. Performances like that are something Milka has come to expect from No. 2 and 3 players.

"Unbelievable. I'll sit down tonight and do the statistics, but pretty much they've been winning 8-1 and 8-2. Sometimes you can have an off-day, but when they're on, they are on. They've all had a few 8-5s and 8-6s, but all in all, I think the three of them have been the best they've been in the four years.

Murphy rebounded nicely in her doubles win with McKinney over Jean and Mahler. After trailing 1-0 at the outset, Murphy and McKinney dominated their opponents and won 8-1. That was more like what Milka has seen from her sophomore phenom all year.

"That's the benefit of playing doubles," Milka said. "There's someone to pick you up and get you going."

Having handed losses to both West and Central it seems as though nothing stands in the way of Londonderry's perfect season. With only Keene (2-7 through Monday's match with Goffstown) and Bishop Guertin (5-5 through Monday's match with Timberlane) remaining, the peak of the regular season mountain is in sight.

"I'm very proud of my girls," Milka said with a laugh. "I don't want to say anything because I don't want to jinx anything, but I'm very proud of them."

Londonderry 6, Manchester West 3

Results:

Singles: 1. Kelli Murphy d. Sam Jean 8-5, 2. Ali McKinney d. Liz Mahler 8-0, 3. Jen Kutt d. Christina Donegan 8-1, 4. Katie Bever d. Mallika Prabhakar 8-4, 5. Kristyn Smith d. Cassie Kelly 8-5, 6. Nicole Byer d. Jess Schofield 9-7

Doubles: 1. Murphy/McKinney d. Jean/Mahler 8-1, 2. Donegan/Prabhakar d. Kutt/Bever 8-6, 3. Kelly/Schofield d. Smith/Byer 9-7

Records: Londonderry 12-0, Manchester West 10-2

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