3 hrs ago

Micah Svoboda had her back against the wall and seemingly no way out.

Trailing Burlington's Lorelei Weaver, 7-1, and one point away from a loss at No. 4 singles, the Danville junior dug deep.

Svoboda simply refused to lose.

She battled all the way back to tie the match at 8, then won, 7-3, in a tiebreaker.

That turned out to be the only win for Notre Dame-West Burlington/Danville in an 8-1 loss to Burlington on Tuesday at the Dankwardt Memorial Park tennis courts.

It also epitomized the cross-town rivalry.

Svoboda, whose brothers, Levi and Eilijah, played soccer for Danville-New London and whose other brother, Titus, is a multi-sport standout for the Bears, would not go down without a fight.

"I know that I can play better and I hold myself up to a higher standard that I know I can live up to. I knew I could do a lot better. I told myself I was not losing," Svoboda said. "It was really uplifting that I was losing and then I came back to win. I don't have a losing mentality."

On a night when both teams honored their seniors, it was the Grayhounds who prevailed and continued yet another solid season under coach Bailey Galvin-Poellot, herself a former BHS standout.

At No. 1 singles, Burlington senior Emily Mosley came away with an 8-1 win over Elizabeth Hamma.

Not satisfied with her play in singles, Mosley came back to team with Anna Buxton in doubles and rolled to an 8-1 win over Hamma and Paige Kramer.

"I didn't play my best in singles today. It was all about keeping it in and getting back to the ball," Mosley said. "I really like doubles. Anna and I work really well together. We're able to create a lot of shot."

At No. 2 singles, Mady Taeger held on for a hard-fought 8-4 win over Isabella Callison.

Buxton beat Kramer, 8-4, at No. 3 singles, while Ava Fawcett beat Carli Cline, 8-4 at No. 5 singles and Macklyn Palmer beat Koppelia Klatt, 8-5, at No. 6 singles.

The Grayhounds swept the doubles. At No. 2, Taeger and Fawcett beat Callison and Cline, 8-4, while at No. 3 Weaver and Ava Moffett beat Svoboda and Klatt, 9-7.

Mosley, for one, has had so much fun and made so much improvement over the last four years that she has decided to continue playing tennis at the next level.

"I started my freshman year. I started because my friends were playing. I didn't think anything of it, but I actually really enjoy it," Mosley said. "I'm going to play tennis in college at Central College.I think it will be really fun and it will challenge me a lot. But I'll get better from it."