LAKELAND — McKenna Battilla hasn’t been able to practice tennis much since recovering from an ACL injury as she’s been focusing on soccer, but if there’s rust in her game, it wasn’t evident this week.
Battilla, the last girls player to win the overall title at No. 1 singles on the court, capped the week by defeating McKeel senior Jada Hutto, 6-1, 6-0, on Wednesday afternoon in the No. 1 singles final of the Polk County Girls Tennis Tournament at the Beerman Family Tennis Center.
The match was a rematch of the No. 1 singles final two years ago. There was no overall final last year. Santa Fe Catholic’s Nya Kerr defeated Hutto on the West County final but did not face Frostproof’s Hannah Windham, the East champion, in the final because of an injury.
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Kerr missed the county tournament this year because of an injury. Battilla reclaimed her spot as the top girls tennis player in the county by storming through the East tournament. She defeated Windham on Tuesday in the East final, 6-1, 6-1.
Battilla enjoyed being back and playing competitive tennis.
“It’s definitely a different feeling than anything else,” said Battilla, who has committed to USF for soccer. “It was nerve wracking at first just because the competition level has improved since my freshman year, and I haven’t been training as much. So I was really worried about that — just like my confidence in matches. My confidence in practice has been fine, but I’m also more relaxed. It feels nice to get it back again.”
Despite the score, Battilla said she could see how much Hutto has an improved since they met two years ago.
“She has a very powerful serve,” Battilla said. “She’s a very great player. The score doesn’t show it. There was good points, so it wasn’t like I was just winning easy points. I was having to work for the points. It was definitely just as difficult as it was my freshman year because obviously she’s improved.”
In her first match in the East tournament on Monday, Winter Haven’s Sophie Bose gave Battilla a bit of a challenge as the match was close before Battiall pulled away to win, 8-5.
Battilla and teammate Ava Mulling also won the overall title at No. 1 doubles. They defeated McKeel’s Hutto and Briley Davis, 7-5, 6-1.
It was doubles that provided the most dramatic match of the week. In the East County finals, Battilla, who was battling severe cramps in her hand, and Mulling dropped the first set before rallying to defeat No. 1 seeded Hannah and Abigail Windham, 1-6, 6-3, 14-12.
“It was definitely nerve wracking, but we calmed each other down,” Battilla said.
The victory allowed Auburndale to tie All Saints for the team title. On the West side, McKeel won at all seven positions to run away with the team title.
In the overall finals on Wednesday, McKeel won all the spots except No. 1 ingles and No. 1 doubles.
In the other singles finals, Davis defeated Frostproof’s Abigail Windham, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 2; McKeel’s Ciara Smith defeated Winter Haven’s Presley Odom, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 3; McKeel’s Leia Johnson defeated All Saints’ Victoria Ancaya, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 4, and McKeel’s Ashley Operderbeck defeated Auburndale’s Adrienne Cardona, 6-1, 6-3.
At No. 2 doubles, McKeel’s Smith and Johnson defeated All Saints’ Eme Abbruzzesse and Lily Hyman, 6-1, 6-1.
The boys overall county finals originally were scheduled for Wednesday. However, the weather prevented the East boys tournament from concluding on Tuesday. The final matches were played on Wednesday, and the overall finals will be at 3 p.m. on Thursday at the Beerman Family Tennis Center.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: County girls tennis: Healthy again, Auburndale’s Battilla reclaims title at No. 1 singles
Reporting by Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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