Woodstock sophomore perseveres in debut

Woodstock Academy sophomore Gen Cohen had a little baptism of fire on Wednesday in the season opener for the Centaurs in Waterford.
Cohen, who was named All-Norwich Bulletin as a freshman doubles player for the Academy last season, is now the No. 2 singles player for Woodstock. In the season opener, she matched up with Emily Qian of the Lancers and it took more than a little while to decide, like 3 ½ hours.
“It’s an honor to play singles, but it’s just so much harder,” Cohen said. “I could never even imagine playing 3 ½ hours.”
Fortunately for Cohen, it was 3 ½ hours that turned out to be time well spent. She beat Qian 6-7, 7-4, 6-2, 7-5 to help her teammates down Waterford, 5-2.
“You don’t even realize how long that is,” Cohen said. “Even when the professionals play, it rarely goes to that unless its (Roger) Federer and (Rafael) Nadal playing. It came down to who was going to get the volley.”
You can read more about the Woodstock Centaurs girls tennis program in this Sunday’s Norwich Bulletin.