VALLEY CITY, N.D. (Newsdakota.com) – Red River came to VC to play in the last EDC match of the season.  They were also treated to the Valley City Tennis Association hotdog feed.  Thanks to the VCTA, the Kringlie Family, and MaryLee Nielson for putting this on.  It was a fun night and the food and camaraderie was appreciated by both teams, the fans, and the coaches.

Results:  VC always listed first

VC 3

RR 6

Singles:

1.  Cali Halgrimson lost to Shaelyn Johnson 6-0, 6-1

2.  Hope Petersen defeated Anna Caoili 6-4, 4-6, 6-1

3.  Rose Zeltinger lost to Lilli Porkrzywinski 6-2, 6-0

4.  Maisie Leick lost to Peyton Fournier 6-3, 6-1

5.  Olivia Ingstad lost to Maddy Sandberg 6-1, 6-2

6.  Faith Peterson defeated Lily Bredemeier 7-6(4), 6-2

Doubles:

1.  Halgrimson/Ingstad lost to Johnson/Fournier 6-4, 6-2

2.  Petersen/Breck Sufficool lost to Caoili/Porkzywinski 6-4, 6-3

3.  Zeltinger/Lexia Nix defeated Julia Miller/Kylee Horner 5-7, 6-3, 6-4

Exhibition:

Bianca Depra lost 6-3

Amber Knutson lost 6-3

Drew Potratz won 6-4

Abby Martineck lost 6-1

Nix won 6-1

Knutson/Depra lost 6-1

Potratz/Martineck won 7-6(2)

Potratz/Martineck lost 6-0

All three doubles teams had streaks of greatness and also some streaks of inconsistencies.  Olivia and Breck keep improving with the leadership of Cali and Hope.  We are right there in every match we play.   Keep learning and implementing every point on the court!

Rose and Lexia came back from a set down to win the match.  Lexia has improved so much at the net with her angles and putaway volleys.  Also, she has figured out how to be more consistent on both sides of her groundstrokes to then set Rose up to be a beast at the net.  Both Rose and Lexia got that ‘Grrr’ mentality where they were playing to win each point.  Nice come back win today.

Cali in singles always has the toughest competition – today she drew a former state champion.  She keeps fighting and keeps learning with a positive attitude no matter the competition.  After losing her two matches, she continues to be a positive leader on the team.  She talked with underclassmen about their day and matches and give encouragement.  She is strength on our team by growing strength in her teammates.

Hope plays her own style of tennis and it proved frustrating for her opponent today.  Hope split sets and then wanted to play a super-tiebreaker instead of the full 3rd.  Once I told her that wasn’t an option, she bore down and upped her game.  She took the mentality of ‘get this done.’  She did and took over.  After the match, we talked about how to bottle that mentality and unleash it in every set.  Way to figure this out and make the turn around on your own Hope!

Rose’s game is being a backboard.  Today, she got against a backboard that was more consistent than her.  It frustrated her, which is what being a backboard is supposed to do.  She fought through it and completed the match.  Hopefully through reflection, we can see that any match, set, game, and point is an opportunity to apply the pillars to their fullest in the moment and then learning opportunities once completed.  The stress, pressure, and frustration is our internalization of the moment.  Instead, if we can get ourselves to view each point as an opportunity, then we can play at a high level even if we can’t beat a backboard.  We can’t control if we win or lose.  We can’t control our opponents.  We can only control the pillars which then will lead to how we play.

Maisie was a couple deuce points in the first set from making the match really interesting.  She can play great ‘boring’ tennis at times where she hits the ball deep and frustrates her opponent.  At times, Maisie didn’t finish her strokes to lead to unforced errors.  Just keep believing Maisie and keep accelerating through each stroke.  Good job today.

Olivia struggled today to reach the level of play she had against Grand Forks Central.  It is amazing what the mind can do and then inhibit one from doing.  I have felt this phenomena many times in my athletic events.  The most recent was on Monday.  I was playing a volley game with the team where Rose had a great shot at my feet.  Upon reaction, I put the racquet behind my back and hit a winning shot from between my legs.  After that shot, I was amazed that even happened and then thought I was on fire.  As soon as I thought this, I proceeded to chunk the next several points.  I lost being in the moment.  I lost the pillars.  I expected to hit great shots instead of just giving 100% effort, having a positive attitude, communicating, and having great sportsmanship.  I’m guessing many athletes or former athletes that are reading this are shaking their heads in agreement as they have felt similar moments.  Olivia, you will get back there soon and then exceed where you were against Grand Forks Central.  We need to strive to reach the pillars and that will give us the best opportunity to accomplish that goal.

Faith played in her first every varsity dual today winning the first set in a tiebreaker before cruising to victory in the second set to claim her first EDC victory of her young career.  She has improved so much with topspin.  Tack on some skills with her competitive fire, you get a pretty good player.  She handled her first EDC match very well.  She didn’t even know she was playing varsity until 10 minutes before the match as Rachel Beierle’s wrist injury flared up during warm-ups and we needed her to fill in.  Great flexibility Faith and way to go out there and just play tennis!

In exhibition, Amber played some of her best tennis in singles.  Her strokes were crisper and her footwork was more on point.  She did struggle with transitioning to the net and then finishing the point.  With her length, we need to develop this part of her game as this could lead to wins for her and the team.

Abby Martineck was a beat at the net in her first match with Drew.  She would take the net over and then put the ball where her opponents were not.  Her groundstrokes need more work with topspin, but with her attitude and mentality it will come!

Speaking of topspin, Drew is now hitting on both sides every time with topspin.  She is believing in it and stepping in each time.  She is following what we ask of her and she continues to grow and develop.

Bianca is a Hi-Liner through and through.  She does not play in the varsity line-up, but still loves to be a positive part of our team.  In doubles, she had a point where she tripped over her own feet and the point became crazy from there.  Most high school kids would feel embarrassed by this point.  She took it in stride and had fun with her doubles partner with it and then told the story to the team.  This story brought the team together showing her teammates that you can laugh at yourself and that it is ok not to be perfect all of the time.  Being able to be vulnerable with your teammates and trusting them shows how strong our team is.  Thank you, Bianca, for being a leader on this team.

Next action is tomorrow where we are playing a double header against Bismarck High at 11am at Tom O’Leary Courts followed by Legacy at Legacy High School.

(Submitted by Matt Nielson)