VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Hi-Liner tennis team competed in their first match yesterday versus West Fargo in Valley and picked up a 9-0 sweep. Below are the individual results:
Singles:
- Breck Sufficool defeated Reet Goyal 2-6, 6-4, 10-6
- Olivia Ingstad defeated Zoe Elhard 1-6, 6-4, 10-8
- Abby Martineck defeated Katilyn Carlson 6-2, 6-1
- Kailee Nielson defeated Paige Knuttila 6-0, 6-0
- Abby Redfearn defeated Hope Uggerud 6-1, 6-1
- Georgia Zaun defeated Ava Von Pinnon 6-1, 6-1
Doubles:
- Sufficool/Ingstad defeated Elhard/Carlson 6-1, 6-4
- Martineck/Redfearn defeated Goyal/Knuttila 7-5, 6-3
- Nielson/Zaun defeated Uggerud/Brooke Kraft 6-2, 6-1
Thoughts from head coach Mike Nielson: “Our first match of the year came with only four days of outdoor practice. It could be worse; we could be Minot with another blizzard warning this weekend. But, it was downright cold by the end of the match with a sub-freezing wind-chill.
In North Dakota high school tennis, we play a 6-3 line-up in conference play meaning six singles matches and three doubles matches where players can play both. In the EDC, we start with all the doubles first and then play singles. Play is two out of three full sets – but if the team match is decided, we play a supertiebreaker (tiebreaker to 10 points) in lieu of the third set.
Doubles first has worked out well for us as our team has been strong in doubles for the last decade. If we can win two out of three or all three doubles, that puts a lot of pressure on our opponents. Last season, we were 8-0 when we took the lead after doubles.
West Fargo understood our strength and tried to steal a match at #2 doubles by putting their #1 singles player there in hopes she could take over the match. Abby R. and Abby M. took the challenge and played smartly away from Reet. After falling behind 4-3 in the first set, they both upped their footwork and aggressiveness to win the first set and the match. Both players dominated in singles dropping only five total games in their four sets won. Neither would say they played ‘their game,’ but both played their opponents perfectly by taking what they were given to win points.
At #1 and #3 doubles, our teams rolled. Kailee was roaming the net and hitting angled or drop volleys for winners. Georgia looked more comfortable at the net in her first match this season than she ever did last season. In singles, Kailee’s opponent liked the net; Too bad for her that Kailee can execute lobs consistently. Georgia’s forehand has become very consistent with some pace, excellent shape, and good topspin. She dictated points and even came to the net to finish points off. Nice opening day wins.
Tennis is a game of errors. West Fargo made the second set of #1 doubles a little interesting as they capitalized on our errors to bring the set to 4-5 before we put it away. In singles, both our #1 and #2 hit too many high risk shots leading to errors and dropping the first set. Both Breck and Olivia understood this and started playing higher percentage tennis with shaping their shots and utilizing better footwork, racquet prep, and accelerating through the ball on their strokes.
Breck had shoulder issues near the end of the second set, but pulled it out 6-4. In the supertiebreaker, she needed to serve softly to conserve her shoulder. Breck had it tied at 6-6 before winning the last four points to win the match. Olivia went from a point where she said ‘there is nothing I can do’ as her opponent was lobbing her effectively taking away Olivia’s net game to grinding out a second set win to force a supertiebreaker. Olivia fell behind 4-8 in that race to ten points. In her words, ‘there was nothing to lose at that point.’ She then shed the pressure to just play loose. With that mentality, she won 6 points in a row to win 10-8 to shutout the Packers. Both showed superb grit and determination. Excellent finishes ladies!”