Girls tennis: Medina's M.J. Pimpo looks good, plays well in GCC win over Brunswick

BRUNSWICK — Medina junior M.J. Pimpo subscribes to the look good, feel good, play well mantra. Sort of. Medina County's most fashionable tennis player downed Alexis Markowski 6-2, 6-2 at second singles Wednesday at Neura Park to lead Medina to a 4-1 Greater Cleveland Conference victory over Brunswick. Smiling frequently while on the court and always smiling off it, Pimpo wore a white visor that was accompanied by a pink ribbon in her hair, a pink wristband on her right wrist and a white Fitbit watch on her left. With only one earring as opposed to the four she wore a day earlier against Highland, plus nails that were each light blue, dark blue and pink, the ensemble was completed by bright pink, $120 ASICS tennis shoes. "All of these are a necessity," the 16-year-old said while trying to keep a straight face. "I need them. Well, I need most of them. The bow, I just like it. I try to pick the brightest shoes I can find so my parents can find me on the court, which was an issue sometimes last year." Home-schooled, the affable and extremely polite Pimpo takes lessons from notable tennis pros Vicki and Keith Dunbar two to three times a week during the season. Every other Monday, there is an individual private lesson. Every Wednesday, a group of seven home-schooled students, including freshman brother Malachi, who will play for the Medina boys team in the spring, meets for a session. On Saturdays, Pimpo and her brother take another lesson. A year ago, Pimpo wore even brighter shoes — they were advertised as being "Safety Yellow" — while playing third singles. Thanks to all her hard work, she has successfully made the move to No. 2 singles for the Bees, who improved to 5-5, 2-1 with their victory over the Blue Devils (8-6, 2-2). "It's definitely a different game," Pimpo said of playing second singles. "Third singles was a battle of stamina. Second singles is a lot more strategy, placing the ball and driving the ball." Against Markowski, Pimpo used patience when she could and hit winners when necessary. "Against a good player, my main thing is to see how consistent they are," she said. "If they don't have good consistency, I can play the third singles game and just hit the ball in. I think I've done a pretty good job of figuring out what to do in different situations." The Bees' other singles win came from freshman Emma Morse, who won 11 of the last 12 games to down Ava Kish 6-4, 6-1 at third singles. The Medina first doubles team of Veronika Janciova and Chase Kremer outlasted Kate Staunton and Ella Kaetzel for a 7-5, 6-3 victory, while the No. 2 pairing of Ella Bresler and Nellie Alber rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Ashwika Ayyagari and Valerie Markowski. The best match of the day — by a mile — was at first singles, where Brunswick sophomore Julianna Ulm beat Bees senior Ashley Wallace in a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) thriller that lasted 2 hours, 25 minutes. "I'm really proud of myself," Ulm said. "I thought I played really, really well." The match began with Ulm and Wallace holding serve through the first 10 games, an extreme rarity in girls high school tennis. Included was Ulm, whose demeanor never changed whether she won or lost a point, holding to go up 3-2 in a marathon game that featured at least a half-dozen deuces. Ulm, who got a lot of points by hitting short balls that her opponent failed to get back, finally got a break to go up 6-5, but Wallace broke right back to force a tiebreaker. Ulm jumped to a seemingly safe 6-1 lead in that, but Wallace got to 6-5 before Ulm closed the set. "I was nervous at the start of it, but I try to stay as calm as possible," Ulm said of the tiebreaker. "I try not to focus on the point I just messed up and get ready for the next one." The second set began with each player holding serve, but was followed by four straight breaks. Each player then held serve three times, with Wallace twice overcoming multiple break points, to force another tiebreaker. Ulm never trailed in that, turning a 1-1 tie into a 5-1 lead before winning 7-3. Not bad for someone who made the jump to first singles after playing third singles and second doubles a year ago as a freshman. "It's been very hard, but I'm picking up a lot of experience," Ulm said. "All these girls I'm playing at No. 1 are amazing." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X. Medina 4, Brunswick 1 Singles — Julianna Ulm (B) d. Ashley Wallace, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3); M.J. Pimpo (M) d. Alexis Markowski, 6-2, 6-2; Emma Morse (M) d. Ava Kish, 6-4, 6-1. Doubles — Veronika Janciova/Chase Kremer (M) d. Kate Staunton/Ella Kaetzel, 7-5, 6-3; Ella Bresler/Nellie Alber (M) d. Ashwika Ayyagari/Valerie Markowski, 6-1, 6-1. Records — Medina (5-5, 2-1), Brunswick (8-6, 6-2).