Blue Jay girls tennis coach Jordan Koushkouski was much happier with his team's effort on Thursday in Bismarck.
Jamestown ultimately fell to Bismarck Legacy in a West Region dual 6-3, but the Jays' style of play was much closer to par after a rough start to the season.
Jamestown (0-5 overall) dropped its home opener to Valley City on Tuesday 8-1, and was also blanked 5-0 in nonconference matches against Minot, Williston and Bismarck Century at the Minot Varsity Duals on Monday.
"We had a little team meeting (Wednesday), and discussed how we'd like to get things turned around after our start this week and kinda restart our season," Koushkouski said. "Obviously, we're striving for a win on the scoreboard, but we definitely saw a lot of improvement as far as how we were playing."
Jamestown junior Kaitlin Mullowney picked up her first victory of the season at No. 1 singles, defeating sophomore Abby McPherson in a wild 7-6(5), 1-6, 11-9 affair. Senior Savannah Montoya also collected her first win at No. 3 singles, breezing past freshman Hannah Felt 6-3, 6-1.
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Jamestown also won at No. 3 doubles. Junior Payton Hoggarth and sophomore Courtney Peterson teamed up to take down Karissa Albaugh and Alexi Ness 6-3, 6-4.
"Kaitlin was the last one to go out to finish the night after a pretty long No. 1 doubles match," Koushkouski said. "The light was fading, but she was able to gut it out after losing the second set to a quality opponent.
"Courtney and Payton were able to secure a win for the first time together. We played a lot closer matches tonight."
Peterson came back from a 2-6 loss in the first set at No. 5 singles, topping Sierra Knoll 7-5 before losing 6-1 in a tiebreak. Mullowney and Montoya also went the distance with Brianna Metzger and Felt at No. 1 doubles, falling short 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Jamestown has been fighting an early-season injury bug, with senior and No. 3 singles player Medora Pringle yet to compete. Up next is the Minot Round Robin on Monday.
"Hopefully we'll get Medora healthy and get a full lineup going soon," Koushkouski said. "We have some time before our next conference match.
"We definitely saw a lot of areas to improve, and we'll take that into practice (today) and next week and hopefully become a better team because of it."
Legacy 6, Jamestown 3
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Singles
No. 1: Kaitlin Mullowney, J def. Abby McPherson 7-6(5), 1-6, 11-9.
No. 2: Brianna Metzger, L def. Megan Larson 6-0, 7-5.
No. 3: Savannah Montoya, J def. Hannah Felt 6-3, 6-1.
No. 4: Karissa Albaugh, L def. Paton Hoggarth, 7-6(4), 6-1.
No. 5: Sierra Knoll, L def. Courtney Peterson 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
No. 6: Alexi Ness, L def. Jess Schultz 6-3, 6-4.
Doubles
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No. 1: Metzger/Felt, L def. Mullowney/Montoya 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
No. 2: McPherson/Camaryn Beasley, L def. Larson/Schultz 6-1, 6-4.
No. 3: Hoggarth/Peterson, J def. Albaugh/Ness 6-3, 6-4.
