WILLIAMSPORT -- Danville's Rosie McKinley was at her wits' end.
After breezing through her first-round match of the District 4 singles tournament on Saturday, McKinley faced a tough challenge against Loyalsock's Emily Zangara, seeded eighth, in the second round.
And although she tried every shot and trick that she had, McKinley couldn't get anything going against Zangara as the Loyalsock standout took a 7-5, 6-1 victory at Williamsport High School's tennis courts.
"After I lost the first set, I knew I had to do something different," McKinley said. "I was feeling really tired, so I knew I couldn't let the points go on so long and I had to shorten them."
In an effort to play like she did in the first set against Zangara, McKinley tried getting to the net more, but it didn't work.
Short shots? Nope, they didn't work either. And neither did baseline shots or any and all attempts to get Zangara to come to the net.
"I tried coming up to the net more, but Zangara was really good at keeping me off from it. She was definitely moving me around a lot and her placement was really down," McKinley said. "I thought maybe I could get to her if I gave her some short shots, but she was getting to them pretty well.
"So, the only other thing I thought I could do was to get us both up at the net, but Zangara was able to keep me away," McKinley added.
To make the situation worse for McKinley, she felt like she was playing a lot better in the second set.
"I actually felt I played a lot better in the second set, which is weird because obviously the score was quite different," said McKinley, who lost in the first round of last year's tournament. "But that's the way it goes I guess."
After seeing McKinley convincingly beat Mansfield's Kaela Guthrie 6-3, 6-1 in the first round, Danville coach Mary Jo Baum held out hope that McKinley would advance farther in the tournament than what she did.
"Rosie gave a good battle in the first set, but she was just getting worn out," Baum said. "Zangara had pretty good control, not that Rosie didn't, but there were some things Rosie was missing and then she was double-faulting at the end a lot.
"I'm glad Rosie made it to the second round," Baum added. "I didn't know what to expect today. We just went into the tournament a little bit hopeful."
Baum also held out hope for her other entrant in the tournament, Amy Sudol, to advance but it wasn't meant to be.
Sudol, despite winning the first set of her match against Muncy's Ellen Phillips 7-6, faded down the stretch as she lost the second set 6-3 and then 6-0 in the third.
"I had hoped for some more from Amy too, but we don't know what happened," Baum said. "She said she tried different mental techniques to change what she was thinking, but she still couldn't seem to get it together."
The Valley's other entrants in the tournament also didn't fare well. McKinley was the only player to advance out of the first round.
Lewisburg's Kelsey Belenko fell to Montoursville No. 8 seed Carolyn Meckbach 6-1, 6-1; fellow Green Dragon Maddie Hussar lost to Montoursville's Beth Hughes 6-2, 6-1; and Selinsgrove's Ashley Martin was defeated by Muncy No. 2 seed Breanne Phillips 6-0, 6-2.
The quarterfinal winners were Hughesville top seed Megan Gardner, who beat No. 8 Carolyn Meckbach of Montoursville, 7-5, 6-7, 6-1; No. 5 Lizzie Martin of Loyalsock, who beat No. 4 Meredith Haggerty of Towanda, 6-3, 6-4; No. 3 Kazzi Sauers of Montgomery, who beat No. 6 Kim Rogers of Hughesville, 6-4, 6-0; and No. 2 Breanne Phillips of Muncy, who beat Zangara 6-1, 6-3.
The semifinals and finals are at Bloomsburg University begining at 2 p.m. The champion and runner-up advance to the PIAA tournament held Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at Hershey Racquet Club.
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