BY SARAH DOSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Even as a child, Kara Molony couldn't wait to play in the Thomas E. Price Metropolitan Tournament. But, in only her fourth Met appearance, Molony has moved on to the next step -- winning the Met tournament. Molony, a sophomore-to-be at UC, beat five-time champion Heather Hairston in the Met final Sunday afternoon 6-1, 6-4. After her first trip to the Met final, Molony said it meant a lot to her to win.
"I've been watching (the Met) forever," she said. "I always wanted to enter, and if I could, win it. So this really means a lot to me."
Molony won the first three games of the match, dropped one, then closed out the first set by winning three more games.
"I wanted to be aggressive and get up early," Molony said. "She's good when she gets up early."
Hairston said Molony's aggressive play made her lose a little focus.
"Usually I get ahead first," Hairston said. "But she kept me back at the baseline so I couldn't move in. I wasn't surprised, but I wasn't prepared."
But in the second set, Molony watched her advantage start to disappear as Hairston moved to an early 4-1 lead.
Molony made one unforced error after another as Hairston started to play the game she has in the past.
"I had some unforced errors, but some winners, too," Molony said.
In the sixth game, Molony forced deuce and then won She took the next four games to win the set and match.
"I realized I was making unforced errors and she wasn't completely beating me," Molony said. "So I waited for some attack opportunities." Molony last met Hairston two years ago in the Met semifinals. Hairston took that match. Hairston said Molony had improved since then.
Molony, who won an international tournament two weeks ago in Michigan, will go to Indiana University this week for another tournament. Hairston said she would return to next year's Met tournament. "She definitely hits better, deeper and harder shots now," Hairston said. "I wanted to maker her hit more of them because she has a great put-away forehand shot. But I guess that didn't happen." Despite the newness of finals play, Molony said she was more excited than nervous.
