Eagles get clipped

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Editor

NEW ULM -- Down 1-4 in their second set, Emily Pearson and Alex Harsha took time to gather their thoughts and won the next five games for a No. 2 doubles win for New Ulm Monday.

Pearson and Harsha's charge back to victory, defeating Blue Earth Area's Lauren Morley and Heidi Kittleson 6-3 and 7-5 was not enough to put the Eagles on top of BEA (1-3 SCC), which won 4-3 in South Central Conference action.

"Alex and I, after we had gotten down 1-4, stopped and told each other, 'What do we play well?'" Pearson said. "We thought about all the good shots we had before and worked on our placements ... and encouraged each other to stay positive."

Pearson said that because of the windy conditions, she and Alex had to concentrate on the volley, whether the ball was going to make it over the net, and working on placement of the ball rather than muscle to get their points.

"Both Al and I had good serving games; we both had wonderful serves," Pearson said. "Wind was a factor at the net, so we worked more at being patient and used more placement instead of using power to put them away."

Pearson was also pleased with their overall consistency, saying that their volley turned out to be strong.

In other doubles action, Megan VanRoekel and Kelsey Langholz won in straight sets at No. 1, 6-3 and 7-6, winning a 7-4 tie-breaker.

At No. 1 singles, Jenny Pugh also cruised to a win in straight sets, 6-0 and 6-1. BEA's Ashley Hanke defeated Liz Reedy 6-2 and 6-4. At No. 3, Tiffany Corbett lost to Jenae Willette 6-3 in both sets in what coach Pat Reedy said was a good match, and Jayme Curry lost 6-0 in both sets.

The Eagles, 0-3 in the SCC, play at St. Peter today.