Central's top doubles team combines Pingel's power, Ford's finesse

~ The Tigers posted a 14-0 record in dual matches last season.

Central senior tennis players Sarah Ford and Lindsey Pingel are two total opposites on the court.

Their coach, Annette Slattery, describes the right-handed Ford, as a steady, finesse player. She describes the left-handed Pingel as an aggressive competitor who powers the ball and takes more shots.

These different styles, Slattery said, is the reason why the two girls play so well together when they team up for a doubles match.

Ford and Pingel have won the district in doubles the past two years and have earned successive trips to the state tournament. They have been unable to place at state, but will be at it again this fall in their final year together at Central.

They will lead a Tigers team that finished 14-0 in dual matches one year ago.

The two agree with their coach that their different approaches make for an interesting combination on the court.

"I just set her up and she hits people," Ford said, with a chuckle. "We like to go for bodies."

"You win the point if the ball hits them," Pingel added, smiling.

The two girls said simultaneously said that their doubles motto since seventh grade has been, "Take no prisoners."

The two also added that it helps that Ford is right-handed and Pingel is left-handed because they can play with their forehands in the middle together.

"You don't see those types of combinations a lot in tennis so it works to our advantage in doubles," Slattery said. "My expectation and their goal is to, of course, win districts in doubles again this year and to have an even better finish at states. ... I think that they've worked really hard and because they been to states the past couple years that experience should pay off. They should get less nervous and perform better."

Ford and Pingel don't hang around together too often when not on the tennis court, but they say they feel a connection when they step out together with rackets in hand.

"We come together on the court," Pingel said.

As for singles, Ford will play No. 1 and Pingel will be the No. 2 player for the Tigers. No. 3 on the team will be junior Christen Edmonds, who finished fourth in the district tournament last year in singles. Slattery said Edmonds is a tenacious player who is tough to get a ball past because of her hustle and stamina.

"I just stay calm in the match, play my best and just try not to get mad," said Edmonds who will likely also play doubles with junior Brooke Morris. "If I mess up, I just move on and work on the next shot. I just take it one shot at a time. I've got a lot of endurance. I don't give up and I can play for a long time."

As for the rest of this year's singles lineup, junior Kristi Lazarova, Morris and junior Paige Kinder will likely play Nos. 4, 5 and 6, respectively.

Jackson returns No. 1

As for Jackson High School, the other area girls tennis team, it will return its No. 1 player Erinne Haff. Haff started the 2006 season as Jackson's No. 2 player and claimed the top spot halfway through the fall.

"She is a worker," Jackson coach David Brummel said. "She sets an example to the other players with how hard she works. She is one that works just all year long. She is up at the courts almost daily just working on various elements of her game. She's a very solid hitter. And like I said, she has that drive to get better and better every time she plays."

The Indians will have two newcomers -- sophomore Chelsea Jones, who will play No. 2, and junior Alison Keiter, who will play No. 5.

"They definitely worked hard this summer," Brummel said about Jones and Keiter. "It was their goal to contribute at the varsity level and they accomplished that goal."

Brummel said positions on the roster are still up in the air.

"We're filling the spots that we lost really well," he said. "So far as practices in the heat everybody has been working really hard. They have the drive to build on what they did last year."