New Richmond girls tennis climbs to 4-0 in Middle Border Conference
The New Richmond girls tennis team now holds a 4-0 record in the Middle Border Conference after wins against Osceola and Ellsworth last week.By: Dave Newman, New Richmond News
- Hailey Davis
The New Richmond girls tennis team now holds a 4-0 record in the Middle Border Conference after wins against Osceola and Ellsworth last week.
The Tigers have not lost a match in any of their four conference bouts this season. They swept Osceola 7-0 last Thursday, two days after they’d defeated Ellsworth 7-0.
Sometimes team progress can show most in a one-sided tennis match. When the Tigers played Ellsworth, there wasn’t much drama expected in the match. Ellsworth is a young team that is working with its fourth different coach in four years. So when the Tigers earned a 7-0 win, it would have been easy to assume the Tigers went through the motions to get the win.
In fact, the opposite was true. The Tigers were sharp and were constantly on the attack in the sweep.
The only Tigers who struggled at all were the members of the one doubles team, Amy Kukacka and Mattie Kidder. They trailed 3-2 in the first set before Coach Denise Devereux talked with them to get them focused. The Tiger tandem didn’t lose another game in the match.
Devereux said the coaches have been trying to keep the girls driving toward the net in matches. This allows them to make more plays at the net and to limit the available shots for their opponents.
No Tiger was better at that against Ellsworth than senior Hailey Davis. Davis kept her opponent pinned against the base line with hard, accurate shots to the deep corners of the court.
“I thought that was the best I’ve seen Hailey play,” Devereux said. “She attacked everything and did a really nice job of playing on the offensive.”
The Tigers continued that approach in their win at Osceola. Devereux said the Tigers’ top two doubles teams excelled at moving in toward the net early in points. That put them in position to take balls at a higher trajectory, which they could return with strong overhand strokes.
The team now has a week off between matches. The break is well timed, because the girls are dealing with several injuries. Kaycie Anderson won the one singles match on Thursday 6-0, 6-2, while playing on a sore foot. Ali Graff of the two doubles team is recovering from a bad shoulder.
The Tigers will host Unity in an MBC match this Thursday. The Tigers will also be in action on Saturday, hosting a quad meet against River Falls, Rice Lake and Altoona.
New Richmond 7,
Ellsworth 0
Singles
No. 1: Kaycie Anderson (NR) def. Brittany Olson 6-1, 6-1
No. 2: Hailey Davis (NR) def. Jordan Olson 6-0, 6-0
No. 3: Maggie Earley (NR) def. Sarah Langer 6-0, 6-1
No. 4: Christian Weaver (NR) def. Megan Stress 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1: Amy Kukacka and Mattie Kidder (NR) def. Kaitlyn Turner and Brooke Hines 6-3, 6-0
No. 2: Shannon Peper and Ali Graff (NR) def. Alex Wilbur and Katie Kurrelmeyer 6-2, 6-2
No. 3: Carley Brotzler and Allie Wrich (NR) def. Rochelle Sweig and Kali Schaar 6-1, 6-0
Tags: sports, tigers, tennis, prep
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