The Varsity girls went to Logansport for an invitational
that turned into a match with just one other team, Mississinewa. Our girls had
a fun day, I think, but that didn’t translate into a win for us.
Mississinewa had a strong number one singles player, who was
the granddaughter of one of the coaches. I have seen her out at the tennis
center quite a few times and I know she plays year round. Emily had a very nice
second set with her, where I saw Emily dictating play, moving the girl around,
and grinding out points. My favorite point of the day was where Em ran up and
back on the court 5 or 6 times during the rally and the girl hit a ball, it
clipped the net and rolled over on Emily’s side. From mid court, Em ran up and
got the ball back in play. The girl hit it back to Em and the Emily put it away
for a winner. Fun stuff!
Alexis Hungate played a good player as well. Her second set
was better than the first and I saw Ali learning what her opponent’s weaknesses
were and really attacking those. Alexis is working on getting more depth on the
ball and getting the ball higher up over the net during baseline rallies. I was
proud of her effort and attitude.
Kady Whitehead saw Varsity time for the first in her high
school tennis career. I was very proud that she was working on some things we
talked about in practice and warm up. Keeping the ball deep in the court, and
having a consistent rally before going for the winner were things she was focusing
on. I think she played a nice match, but came out with a loss. I look forward
to watching her in the future get a Varsity win.
Madison Wells and Sydney Wells played a doubles team that
has a lot of experience playing doubles and playing together. It showed in the
match of their experience. The match score does not however show the things our
girls are doing well and improving on. Shadowing the ball and shifting together
as a doubles pair is getting better. We are still working on stepping back off
of the net so we can get mid-height volleys and overheads and poaching on balls
that are relatively close enough to us to move over and take. I am proud of
their continual effort to work together, brush themselves off and go back after
the next point.
Erica Plutat and Georgia Williamson played together for the
first time on Saturday. Putting a new pair together is always an adjustment,
but I think they did a good job. It was Georgia’s first time playing doubles in
a match, but she has some natural abilities to be aggressive, and put the ball
away. Erica has really been a leader on the court and off. She put in a lot of
work in the off-season and her game reflects that. We are still working on
getting the ball higher up and away from the net player, but that will come
with more match play.
Gabriella Matly, Megan Floyd, Dulce Amayun, and Jenna Miller
traveled along and each played two or three exhibition matches. I am glad for
the opportunity for each of them to get to improve and get matches in. Some
comments I made during their singles matches were to cut down on unforced
errors, know your opponents strengths and weaknesses, increase our first serve
percentage, and get the feet out of no-man’s land.
We get better at all of these things with more match play and
experience, so I am pleased with where we are now. Until all of the girls are
dedicated to playing throughout the year to improve, this is the best we can
hope to expect to be at. That is not a negative, and I understand that it may
just not be possible for many, so do not be discouraged by it. It is just a
fact.
More important to me than wins and losses is the girls
learning life lessons about team, hard work, attitude, and effort through the
season. Any wins and success beyond that is icing on the cake!
Coach Kristine Miller
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