On a marvelous day for tennis, West Fargo Sheyenne came to Valley City. This was Sheyenne’s first day playing outside all season as their courts are still not ready to play on yet.
Thanks to Jordan Heck from Valley City Public Schools and Mike Lentz and Lance Lukes from the Valley City Parks and Rec for ensuring our courts were ready for our first match. Your efforts are appreciated!
Results (VC Always Listed First)
VC 0
WFS 9
Singles:
1. Cali Halgrimson was defeated by Monti Knewtson 6-0, 6-0
2. Hope Peterson was defeated by Preeti Chemiti 6-2, 6-1
3. Rose Zeltinger was defeated by Mimi Gu 6-1, 6-2
4. Maisie Leick was defeated by Raan Hailey 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. Olivia Ingstad was defeated by Kaitlin Suundlie 7-6, 6-2
6. Breck Sufficool was defeated by Abby College 6-4, 6-1
Doubles:
1. Halgrimson/Ingstad was defeated by Knewtson/Gu 6-2, 6-1
2. Peterson/Sufficool was defeated by Chemiti College 6-4, 0-6, 6-1
3. Zeltinger/Leick was defeated by Sundlie/Miranda Sommerfeld 6-1, 6-3
Varsity Exhibition:
Rachel Beierle won 6-0, 6-4
Lexia Nix lost 6-4
Amber Knutson lost 6-0
Drew Potratz won 6-3, 6-1
Faith Petersen lost 6-2
Nix/Beierle lost 6-2
Bianca Depra/Potratz lost 6-4
Knutson/Petersen lost 6-3
Knutson/Beierle lost 6-3
Nix/Depra lost 6-1
Thoughts:
Sheyenne is one of the favorites to win the state championship this year with a healthy Monti Knewtson, a singles and doubles state champion, along with Preeti Chemiti and Mimi Gu, a 3rd and 5th place finisher in the state tournament respectively. The whole team up and down the line-up is stout.
Olivia held her own again at #1 doubles…this time, against last year’s state champions in Knewtson and Gu. She is not scared of the net and also figured out how to take half strokes on the hard shots.
Cali played Monti and really worked on not being knocked off the baseline. She held tight and worked on the short hop trying to stay in points in a neutral position. It worked many times, but Monti was on her game today and was painting lines.
Breck and Hope were the surprise of the day. They took a set off of Preeti and her partner, Abby. They played solid, but also had the mentality of doubles players. They took over the net and put the ball away. Also, they were able to adjust within the match and started throwing lobs up pushing their opponents back. They poached when the ball was there. Very impressive ladies!
Maisie continues to improve on the singles court. She learns more about constructing points each time out. She is starting to reflect within the match to coach herself during games. Her opponent’s backhand was flitting, so she attacked it and took a set off of opponent. Way to figure out a way to succeed on the court!
Rose had the tough matchup of the day facing Mimi. She rolled her ankle early in the match and gutted out the rest of the match. Rose leads by example, leaving it all on the court each time she plays.
On the Varsity Exhibition side, Drew was coached to use topspin on both sides and she made it her personal goal to make sure that happened. She executed and then was coached the next step in her growth. Rachel did the same thing with approach shots and volleys. She took in the coaching and then enacted it the very next point.
With our Hi-Liner pillars ‘ACES’, we can be successful every match, win or lose. Today, we were successful. We played at the highest level to date as a team. We gave 100%, had positive attitudes and body language, communicated, and had great sportsmanship. We learned on the court. We were coachable. It was a great day! I’m proud of our team.
Next action is West Fargo at home on Thursday at 4pm.
V/JH versus WFHS Results:
Faith K/Trinity N won 6-5 Abby R/Makayla N won 6-2 Alyssa T/Faith O lost 2-6
Ella O/Amanda R lost 1-6 Chelsea U/Abby M won 6-0 Dani T/Alexa K lost 1-6
Savannah H/Trinity N won 6-2 Abby R/Abby M won 6-0 Faith O/Alexa K lost 5-6
Amanda R/Faith K lost 1-6 Dani/Chelsea lost 2-6 Ella/Alyssa lost 2-6
Savannah/Makayla won 6-1 Marly/Makayla won 6-2 Marly/Trinity lost 5-6
Abby R/Faith K won 6-4 Abby M/Amanda won 6-2 Chelsea/Alexa won 6-5
Dani/Faith O won 5-3 Makayla/Abby R won 6-3
Overall: VC – 12 WFSH – 8
The junior high and junior varsity girls did a great job playing lots of matches today and hitting the four Hi-liner pillars (ACES)! We paired up our younger girls with a more experienced partner for most of the matches since Sheyenne brought their 9-12th grade varsity girls and did a similar line-up. Our JV girls really set the tone in terms of attitude and effort while encouraging and helping out the junior high girls. I was very impressed with Abby Redfearn today as she won all four of her matches and worked on and found success taking groundstrokes on the side of her body rather than everything overhead. I was also very impressed with the overall improvement in the confidence level of our junior high girls as they are being more aggressive in their play. Trinity really stood out to me today at the JV level as being a positive encourager on the court for her partners and also being aggressive at the net and taking over the match. I could write so many positive statements about all of the girls on the team! I love watching these girls improve and have fun! I am looking forward to our matches again on Thursday!
