Clay's head-to-head girls’ tennis match against St. Ursula Academy earlier this season showed the Eagles they still have a ways to go if they hope to win the inaugural Three Rivers Athletic Conference title this season.

The TRAC includes former City League members Clay, St. Ursula and Notre Dame Academy, along with five other varsity girls programs. St. Ursula blanked the Eagles 5-0 earlier in the year.

“I'd really like to think we have a shot at second place,” said Walt Ralph, Clay's 15th-year coach. “As we saw in our match with St. Ursula, their depth, particularly at the top, is going to be tough to overcome. Our match with Notre Dame (Wednesday) will show us where we're at. This is the best group of kids a coach could ask for. They have great attitudes and a desire to compete.”

The Eagles graduated just one starter, first doubles player Heather Curry, from last year's team, which took third in the CL behind Central Catholic and Notre Dame.

Clay won six of its first eight matches prior to facing Notre Dame on Wednesday, beating Perrysburg, Anthony Wayne, Springfield, Sandusky, Whitmer and Maumee. The Eagles' losses have come against SUA and Findlay, 3-2, last Tuesday.

“Our second singles girl (senior Abbey Herrera) was on the court for three hours and 18 minutes and ended up losing against Findlay,” Ralph said. “I was very proud of her effort. She showed tremendous heart. Her match was kind of indicative of what we are as a team.”

Senior Kylie Ault is in her third year as Clay's No. 1 singles player. Ault, a first-team all-league player last year, is 7-1 this season.

“The name of her game last year was steadiness and amazing emotional control,” Ralph said. “She does not get flustered. She's a state-level gymnast and that helps her head and the emotional part of tennis. This year she's added more offense to her game. She's added a little more spin, and she works angles real nicely.”

Herrera, a second-team all-league performer in 2010, is 5-3 this season at No. 2 singles.

“She's all about tenacity,” Ralph said. “Abbey has the heart that I try to instill in all of my players, as far as refusing to give up and getting to balls. Her feet and effort level are second to none.”

Junior Lisa Durrant, who has won half of her eight matches at third singles in 2011, made the All-CL second team a year ago at third singles. Ralph plans to move Durrant to first doubles to play with senior Ann Klewer.

Sophomore Jennifer Lucas, who is expected to miss about four weeks because of an illness, has been playing first doubles with Klewer.

“I expect it to go well,” Ralph said of Durrant and Klewer. “Ann's been around and she has a veteran presence. Lisa has a game that is adaptable to doubles.”

Kristina Figurova, a senior exchange student from Slovakia, will move into the third singles spot while Lucas recovers.

“Kristina is pretty polished and should do fine,” Ralph said.

The second doubles team consists of sophomore Emilie Roman and junior Cassie Hartkopf. The duo is 7-1 so far this season.

“Emilie is another really fierce competitor and she doesn't quit,” Ralph said. “She has a lot of those strengths that Kylie and Abbey bring, as far as that desire to succeed, and she gets to a lot of balls at the net. Cassie has a nice tennis game. She has good-looking strokes and she's working on her consistency.”

Another standout doubles duo is the team of juniors Kayla Durczynski and Stacey Adkins,who are 2-0.

“They give us great depth,” Ralph said. “They've had a lot of good practice matches against our other two doubles teams and they've been jelling nicely together this year. This is their first year playing together, but their tennis game is rapidly improving.”

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