TWINS LAUGH LAST, FINISH FIRST
IOWA CITY — In doubles tennis, teams who have been playing together for a long period of time eventually form a way of communicating that is understood quickly by both players to counter their opponent’s attack.
Red Oak's Pierson twins and 2010 Iowa State Doubles Champions, Emily and Rachel, have an advantage, considering they have potentially been communicating since they were womb-mates.
“I know what she's thinking usually just by looking at her,” Emily Pierson said after their championship match Friday. “Sometimes I don't even have to do that. I just know.”
The Piersons used their communication, both verbal and non-verbal, to their advantage as they fought back in the second set of the championship match, which was a rematch of the 2009 State Championship match.
The Red Oak twins started strong, winning the first game of the first set quickly, but then went into a slump, losing the next six games and the first set, 6-1, followed by a loss in the first game of the second set.
“Last year, I don't know if they would have stuck with it,” retired Head Coach Dan Martinez, who led the Tigers until days before the championship, said after watching the championship match. “They seemed to keep each other up. When one struggled, the other was there to help.”
On the court, the twins kept focused in the second set, even after dropping the first game, 50-love. Their communication during the game was brief, normally in sentences of no more than four words.
A quiet, “Come on,” from Rachel to Emily.
“We can do this,” from Emily to Rachel.
Body language and facial expressions has also been a key to the Piersons' communication all season. Words were replaced with a quick point of the finger and a nod of the head. A deep breath and a sheepish smile as to say, “I know I should have gotten that,” or “that was my fault.”
The tide turned in the second game of the second set.
The Piersons had to fight for the win as Camanche's Ashtyn Dixon and Tiana Bark extended the game to deuce three times before Red Oak picked up the winning point.
Breaking the seven-game slide changed the momentum of the entire match.
“After we won that game, we could feel everything just kind of start falling our way,” Rachel said. “It felt really good to win that one and we just kept pushing it.”
The Tigers won the second set 6-3.
After a ten-minute intermission, the Piersons continued their winning ways, taking the first two games of the third set.
Emily, who admitted to being extremely nervous in the first set, settled into her game, picking up points from the serving line.
Rachel continued playing her normal brand of aggressive play, pushing toward the net, forcing the Indians' duo to attempt to get their volleys past her.
“After we won the second game of the last set, we felt like we had it,” Rachel said. “It felt a lot easier to play in that last set. We knew they were struggling.”
The Red Oak tandem cruised to a 6-1 win, taking the championship match 2-1.
The Piersons are the third doubles team from Red Oak to win the state championship in school history.
As juniors, Emily and Rachel are hoping to make a repeat performance next season.
Red Oak's number-two doubles team, of senior Kaely Piller and junior Brittany Walker, was also competing at state.
The Regional runners-up faced the second-place finishing team from Camanche in the first round, which they lost 6-4, 6-0.
Piller and Walker fought back through the consolation bracket, winning their second match 6-4, 6-3, over Marah Bossard and Nicole Oliver (Pella), followed by a win over Angela Sickler and Minna Mohammadi (Maharshi), 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (7), in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, the Tigers dropped behind, losing the first set 6-2 to Morgan Kuhrt and Carly Poesch (Waverly-Shell Rock), before fighting back to win the second.
“There is no quit in the Red Oak girls,” Martinez said. “They fought hard to come back in their semifinal match to a good team.”
Piller and Walker lost the tiebreaker 10-8 pinning them against Kaylene Vos and Erin Olson from Estherville-LC in a match for seventh place.
The Tiger duo won the first set decisively, 6-2, but had to fight to win the second set, as the Midges forced an extra game. Red Oak 7-6 win netted the Tigers a seventh place finish.
Vos and Olson were the first tennis players to place at the state tournament for Estherville.
In singles play, Red Oak senior Liz Cooper lost her first match to Jalyn Deering in a sweep, 6-0, 6-0.
Cooper came back in the consolation bracket, winning over Katie Berner of Centerville, 6-3, 6-1.
Cooper lost in the quarterfinals, closing her career as a Tiger, with a 6-0, 6-0, loss to Celia Morton (Dubuque-Wahlert)
Morton finished the tournament, winning fifth place, while Deering took seventh.
On Saturday, in the team tournament, Camanche defeated Red Oak in the first round, 5-1.
Piller was the only Tiger to win her match, defeating Bark 6-4, 6-3.
In a battle for third place, Waterloo Columbus defeated Red Oak 5-4.
The Pierson girls were the only Tigers to win in their singles matches. Rachel Pierson and Walker defeated Katie Garrett and Anne Nora, 7-6 (5), 6-4, in doubles play. The team of Piller and Cooper also won their match over Mary McCoy and Lindsay McGonegle, 6-0, 6-0.
The Tiger team of Emily Pierson and Zoey Baker were unable to win the deciding match, losing to Jessica Klieman and Rachel Schaefer 7-6 (8), 6-4.