Wharton uses long bye wait wisely, then notches 2 wins
By Tom Gaffney
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Thursday, Oct 04, 2007
CANTON: Copley's Jessica Wharton had a decidedly productive morning and afternoon at the Canton Division I sectional tennis tournament.
Wharton, who qualified for the state tournament in doubles last season as a freshman, took care of her primary business Wednesday by winning both her singles matches at Weis Park to advance to Saturday's quarterfinals.
But she also used long stretches of downtime wisely, filling in the hours from her arrival with the rest of the Indians team at 8:15 a.m. until her first match at 2:45 p.m.
''It was a long day, but I had a lot of fun hanging out with my teammates and supporting them in their matches,'' said Wharton, who finally left at 6:30 p.m. ''And I had a lot of homework. I am in honors classes, and I had to do my English and chemistry homework.''
Wharton, 15, had so much leisure time because she had a first-round bye as the third seed, behind Revere's Stephanie Danesis and GlenOak's Jasmine Lee.
When she finally got on the court, she needed about 90 minutes total to defeat Kristy Kennelly of North Canton Hoover 6-2, 6-4 in the second round and Jordan Williams of Green 6-1, 6-1 in the third round.
Andrea Minster, who is in her 10th year as coach of the Indians, knew Wharton was not going to lose focus despite the schedule's slow pace. ''She has matured on and off the court. I didn't worry about her being ready,'' Minster said. ''Tennis is not a job to her. This is what she likes to do.''
Wharton, who took up at the game at the age of 8, has played first singles for the Indians from the time she reported to the varsity in 2006. She had a singles record of 15-3 last year and is 15-4 this season.
In 2006, she moved to doubles in the postseason with then-senior Ebony Hodges. Despite being unseeded in the same Canton sectional, Wharton and Hodges finished second to advance to the Oberlin district. They finished fifth there to reach the state tournament, where a first-round loss did not ruin the experience.
''That was great,'' Wharton said. ''It was exciting to be there as a freshman. We were the underdogs. We went down there to play as well as we could and have fun.''
This season, Wharton decided to play singles in the postseason. If she wins her first match Saturday, she will clinch a berth in the Oberlin district tournament, which starts Oct. 11. There, she would have to finish in the top six to return to the state tournament.
''I want to see how I do in singles,'' said Wharton, whose only loss in the Suburban League was to Danesis. ''There are a lot of good singles players out there. I know I have to play smart and can't lose focus.''
On Wednesday, after her long wait, she made some unforced errors against Kennelly before taking charge. She was more aggressive against Williams.
''My first match, it was hard to get going. I was a little slow,'' she said. ''The second match, I attacked more. My feet were really moving.''
In other singles action, Danesis, Lee and fourth-seed Natalie Robson of Revere also won two matches to advance to the quarterfinals.
Doubles play, held at Stadium Park, was able to reach the semifinals, meaning the top four teams have qualified for the Oberlin district. Two area teams Maria Ciccolini and Heather Ross of Green, and Loni Dickerhoof and Trisha Conlan of Jackson advanced.
