Abby Hibbard (6-0, 6-1) and Caroline Moore (6-1, 6-1) won in singles’ action while Hallie Wachsmuth and Betsy Lochridge won 6-3, 6-3 in No. 2 doubles.
Cathryn Harris (1-6, 6-3, 3-10) lost in No. 2 singles, and Nikki Burkhalter and Taylor Vaughn (0-6, 4-6) lost in No. 1 doubles.
On the boys’ side, in No. 1 singles, Ben Perkins picked up the only win for the Eagles, beating his opponent by a score of 6-0, 6-1.
“One of the things you try to stress to these kids is if you’re not playing the No. 1 position, don’t worry about it,” Excel coach Mark Hibbard said. “You need to play your position and play it well.”
He noted the girls team did that in getting wins out of its No. 3 singles player and No. 2 doubles team.
The boys lack experience right now, he added.
“With the boys, they need to get more experience,” Hibbard said.
The Excel coach congratulated Perkins on his play, which has improved from a season ago.
“He’s getting to where he’s playing a lot smarter,” Hibbard continued. “He’s very, very consistent this year.”
Hibbard said the other guys on the team should look to mimic Perkins’ consistency, but improvement from both teams will come with time.
“Overall, this is only our third match,” he said. “I feel like once they get more matches, they’ll get better and better but, for a lot of them, it’s a learning experience.”
Excel is scheduled to play three more matches Friday and Saturday as it competes in the Colonels Tennis Invitational hosted by Cass.
Chattooga 2, Adairsville 1
The Adairsville girls soccer team may have outshot Chattooga by nearly 15 shots, but it was the Lady Indians who claimed the victory Monday.
With the score 1-0, the Lady Tigers (4-5) were called for a handball penalty, which was inside the box, giving Chattooga a penalty kick.
The Lady Indians converted the penalty shot to go up 2-0 in the 68th minute.
Adairsville added a goal 10 minutes later as Kasey Epps knocked in a free kick from about 25 yards out.
However, the Lady Tigers were unable to add another goal.
Adairsville assistant coach Lance Hall noted that the Lady Tigers competed through the match, but could not capitalize often enough.
“We played pretty well, we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net,” Hall acknowledged. “The problem is we outshot them 18-4.”
Chattooga took an early lead when it scored in the first half on a breakaway in the seventh minute.
The Lady Indians led 1-0 at halftime.
Adairsville’s next match comes Thursday when the Lady Tigers host Cedartown, who makes the trip to Tiger Valley.
The match is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.