Warren’s girls tennis team dropped a hard-fought 3-2 Region 2 match Thursday to visiting McDowell.

“Always tough to lose any match, but this was just a great day of tennis from both teams, so I think everyone that came down to watch won tonight,” said Warren coach Thomas Pellegrino, whose Dragons are 6-3 overall and 2-3 in the region.

Lucy Harrison kicked things off by grabbing an impressive 6-3, 6-1 win over Lina Warrier at first singles.

“This was the best Lucy has played this season,” said Pellegrino. “She was moving great, striking the ball early, and consistently putting pressure on her opponent. This was an impressive showing from Harrison.”

At second singles, Warren’s Grace Carr lost the first set 0-6 to MJ Moubarak and gained a commanding lead in the second, but due to an injury, she was forced to retire the match at 5-5.

Playing at third singles, Warren’s Ella Card dropped a close one to Courtney Leonard, 4-6, 3-6.

“This was a match that could have gone either way,” said Pellegrino. “Most games went to deuce with the girls constantly going back and forth on the scorecard. Unfortunately, it all came down to one break of serve in each set.”

The highlight of the day came at first doubles where Warren’s Alannah Garza and Maddy McDunn came back from a set down to defeat the pair of Eileen Cui and Maddie Stephens 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

“This was a fun match to watch with both teams playing some of their best tennis,” said Pellegrino. “The Warren pair made some transitions after the first set and focused in on the big moments, pulling off the comeback with some great net play and big-time serving.”

Warren’s second doubles pair of Sarah Harvey and Grace Carlson were defeated by Asheen Udigiri and Jayoung Kim 0-6, 3-6.

“At the end of the day, we may have lost the match, but we came off the court positive as the girls played some of their best tennis tonight and continue to improve,” said Pellegrino. “We already looked 10 times better than we did on Tuesday and are looking forward to our next 3A matchups.”