Tennis: Hall, Sizmur pace Mosley past Choctaw

LYNN HAVEN — Some teams are top-heavy, others bottom-heavy. The boys tennis team at Mosley is somewhere between.

That played out favorably for the host Dolphins against Choctawhatchee on Tuesday as Mosley won four of five singles matches en route to a 5-2 win over the Indians in a District 2-3A duel.

Mosley’s girls eked out a 4-3 victory as Megan Sizmur cruised to a victory in No. 1 singles in the final match of the day.

Choctaw’s boys won their No. 1 singles and doubles matches, respectively, but Mosley netters didn’t drop a set in any of the other five matches. Mosley coach Ann Talkington said the Dolphins (7-5 overall, 4-5 district) have four players with comparable ability. Her son, Grant, gets “thrown to the wolves” as the No. 1 player, she said, but Mosley’s depth becomes a strength farther down the line.

“Normally our matches come close, like 4-3,” said Jamison Hall, Mosley’s No. 4 singles player who defeated Danny Alcivar 6-1, 6-1. “I see my singles match as a critical match. It’s always important to know I’ve got to go out and win because it could determine if we win.”

Hall is a senior captain who has thrived in his role, Talkington said. He reaches balls others can’t or won’t, she said, and it frustrates his opponents.

“That’s always how I’ve played since the 10th grade,” said Hall, who teamed with Sam Bennett to win their doubles match 8-6 over Alcivar and Nick Davis. “I play soccer, so I try to use my endurance to my advantage and wear opponents down and let them make a mistake first.”

Sizmur, a 17-year-old senior, came back from a loss in doubles play to rout Choctaw’s Kingon Walker 6-0, 6-0 and secure a team win for the Dolphin girls (5-7, 3-6).

“I was placing my shots, getting balls back and getting my serves in,” Sizmur said of her singles win.

Sizmur teamed with Harriet Wingrove in No. 1 doubles, and they rallied from an 0-4 hole to take a 7-6 lead over Walker and Jessica Sauvageau in the proset. The Dolphin duo was looking at match point ahead 40-30, but Walker and Sauvageau scored the next three points to hold serve and extend the match.

The Choctaw pair then broke Mosley’s serve and rebounded from a 0-30 deficit in the next game to secure an 9-7 win.

“I was having a really bad match in doubles,” Sizmur said, “but I put my butt in gear in singles.”

Even with the loss, Wingrove said the tandem has improved since the two started playing together early in the season.

“This year we started out in the second week and we were terrible,” said Wingrove, a native of Oxfordshire, England, who moved here six years ago. “We’d hit each other in the back of the head running for the same balls.”

With the district tournament looming April 5 and 6 in Tallahassee, Sizmur said she and Wingrove are playing better than they have all season.

“We’re finally getting used to one another,” she said. “I love playing with her. She’s so sweet.”

Mosley boys 5, Choctawhatchee 2

• Singles — No. 1: McKennon Griffin (C) d. Grant Talkington 6-2, 6-4. No. 2: Kevin Roby (M) d. James McAndrew 7-6 (3), 6-3. No. 3: Sam Bennett (M) d. Nick Davis 6-1, 6-1. No. 4: Jamison Hall (M) d. Danny Alcivar 6-1, 6-1. No. 5: Seth Koller (M) d. Mitchell Siegel 7-5, 7-6 (5).
• Doubles — No. 1: Griffin-McAndrew d. Talkington-Roby 8-4. No. 2: Bennett-Hall d. Davis-Alcivar 8-6.

Mosley girls 4, Choctawhatchee 3

• Singles — No. 1: Megan Sizmur (M) d. Kingon Walker 6-0, 6-0. No. 2: Jessica Sauvageau (C) d. Ashley Sheffield 8-2. No. 3: Jana Miles (M) d. Emma Michenfelder 6-1, 6-1. No. 4: Arthi Balasubramaniam (C) d. Makayla Lewis 6-0, 6-0. No. 5: Kali Young (M) d. Nicole Testa 6-1, 6-1.
• Doubles — No. 1: Walker-Sauvageau d. Sizmur-Harriet Wingrove 9-7. No. 2: Miles-Lewis d. Michenfelder-Balasubramaniam 8-6.