It doesn’t happen very often that an eighth-grader makes the varsity team in any sport. From simply a physical standpoint, there can be safety issues due to the bigger, more mature competition of high school juniors and seniors. And on the competitive side, experience often wins.
Eliza Gonzalez didn’t just make the Brockport girls tennis varsity team this fall as an eighth-grader. She is competing as the top singles player against some of the best competition in Section V — and winning.
Using her size and reach advantage plus her ability to serve and return with more velocity than most of her competitors, evidence of her ability to compete at the top level came recently in a match against Batavia.
After losing the first set 5-7, she came back to even the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. Down 0-1 in the third and deciding set, she broke serve in the second game and went on to a 6-3 win.
Junior Charity Hinman was the other winner for a young 0-3 Blue Devils squad on this day as she won her third singles match 6-2, 6-4 as they fell to Batavia 2-5.
