Tiger tennis claims MBC tournament championship

• 2008 New Richmond varsity girls

The 2008 New Richmond varsity girls tennis team poses for its conference championship photo on the team’s couch, which they bring out for each of their home matches.

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By getting all seven of its entries into the flight championships, it was a complete team effort that produced the championship for the New Richmond girls in the 2008 Middle Border Conference Girls Tennis Tournament.

The Tigers finished the tournament with four flight championships and three second place finishes. They finished the tournament with 36 team points. Unity was a strong second place team, with 29 points.

After going through the dual meet portion of the conference season without a loss, the Tigers were the targeted team in the MBC tournament.

“To get every flight through to the finals, I can’t be happier than that,” said Tiger coach Teresa Kvam. “It takes mental toughness to keep yourself on track when everyone wants to beat you.”

The Tigers won two conference tournament titles in singles play and two more in doubles play. The singles titles were won by junior Lauren Kvam at two singles and sophomore Meghan Frank at four singles.

The two doubles team of Luanne Stai and Sami Kleiner earned the conference title, the third straight year that they were conference flight champions.

Also repeating as conference doubles winners were Tiger sophomores Chelsea Anderson and Jenny Hudalla, who repeated as champions at three doubles.

Finishing in second place in their flights were seniors Alyssa Luther at one singles, Shelley Stockey at three singles, and the one doubles team of Ashley Peterson and Courtney Kvam.

All three of the Tigers’ defeats in the finals came against Unity. The Tigers were the only MBC team to beat Unity during the regular season.

There were no easy wins for the Tigers in their four finals championships. In the two doubles finals, Stai and Kleiner had to withstand a second set tie-breaker to complete their win. For Anderson and Hudalla at three doubles, their match was postponed due to darkness and wasn’t completed until last Friday.

Frank’s win at four singles also had to be completed another day. With her team all huddled at the end of the court, Frank was able to complete her four doubles championship match last Thursday.

Lauren Kvam also had her hands full winning the two doubles championship match. Kvam had to make a late surge to win the opening set 7-5. She showed excellent poise in putting away the second set 6-0.

Hudson loss

The Tigers played their final dual match of the season last Thursday at Hudson.

Every one of these matches was closely contended, with five of them going to a third set. In the end Hudson was able to prevail by a 5-2 score.

The wins were recorded by Lauren Kvam at two singles and Hudalla and Anderson at three doubles.

Coach Kvam said she had no problems losing to Hudson. She wanted the Tigers to get a tough test before they went to Monday’s WIAA Division 1 subsectionals and that is exactly what the Tigers got here. In every flight the Tigers’ skills were put to a test by one of the best Division 1 teams in this area.

2008 Middle Border Conference Girls Tennis Tournament

Team Scores: New Richmond 36, Unity 29, Osceola 14, Durand 10, Ellsworth 9, Baldwin-Woodville 7, Amery 0, Mondovi 0

New Richmond finishes

Singles

No. 1: Alyssa Luther (NR) def. Katherine Hobrecht (B-W) 6-0, 6-2; def. Nikki Marson (E) 6-4, 6-4 in semifinals; lost to Stephanie Kothlow (U) 6-1, 6-1 in championship match

No. 2: Lauren Kvam (NR) def. Jane Cole (M) 6-0, 6-1; def. Brooke Stoetzel (E) 6-1, 6-2 in semifinals; def. Lexi Kothlow (U) 7-5, 6-0 in championship match

No. 3: Shelley Stockey (NR) def. Maddy Otis (B-W) 6-1, 6-0; def. Sabrina Rudolph (E) 6-1, 6-3 in semifinals; lost to Christine Franzel (U) 6-2, 6-4 in championship match

No. 4: Meghan Frank (NR) def. Lisa Lien (D) 6-1, 6-0; def. Claire Hines (E) 6-2, 6-1 in semifinals

Doubles

No. 1: Ashley Peterson and Courtney Kvam (NR) def. Marin Holle and Sam Rode (B-W) 6-2, 6-4; def. Kristine Berger and Jackie Johnson (M) 6-2, 6-0 in semifinals; lost to Elizabeth Ebensperger and Alesa Paulson (U) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in championship match

No. 2: Luanne Stai and Sami Kleiner (NR) def. Emily Nelson and Katie Krueger (A) 6-1, 6-0; def. Jessie Kutina and Katherine Ebensperger (U) 6-0, 6-1; def. Jessica Johnson and Tanis Klinger (B-W) 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) in championship match

No. 3: Jenny Hudalla and Chelsea Anderson (NR) def. Ashley Mork and Olivia Krueger (A) 6-2, 6-1; def. Danielle Mundt and Abbey Gadbois (B-W) 6-1, 6-0; def. Meghan Ausing and Kyrie Dorschner (D) 6-4, 6-4 in championship match

Tags: sports, tennis, mbc, champs