Jeremy Ratliff
Editor
Following a tough season-opener at Wausau-West on Thursday, Sept. 17 (0-7) the Bluejay varsity tennis squad bounced back in big fashion on Tuesday, Sept. 22; slipping past the Marshfield Tigers at Merrill High School (4-3).
Marshfield Results-
# 1 singles: Alexandra Johnson beat Brooklyn Dillinger 6-2, 6-0
# 2 singles: Sydney Newmier beat Audrey Ladewig 7-6(5), 6-4
# 3 singles: Sonia Dissanayaka beat Angela Hinner 6-3, 6-2
#4 singles: Erin Murray beat Sandra Casta 6-0, 6-1
# 1 doubles: Amelia Skoviera/Tessa Wheat beat Haley Sternitzky/Nichole Specht 6-1, 6-1
# 2 doubles: Autumn Reissmann/Lauren Cohrs beat Emma Tucker/Abigail Forst 6-3, 6-1
# 3 doubles: Loren Jacobi/Isabel Paape beat Zoey Dreikosen/Kendra Petrowski 6-0, 6-3
“Merrill and Marshfield are always neck and neck,” comments Head Coach Brad Barton.
“We came away with a hard fought win today. This puts the head-to-head dual record the last five years with Marshfield 3-2 in favor of Marshfield. This was a signature win for Alexandra Johnson. She has always had power but she is so consistent this year. She is more confident this year also. Audrey Ladewig played very impressive as Marshfield’s #2 player is inter-changeable with their #1 player. Angela Hinner had some very impressive shots but Marshfield’s consistency was too much. Erin Murray had a nice win which was nice to see as she had a heartbreaking loss to Wausau-West last week. Merrill’s #1 and #2 doubles teams continue to impress. Both those teams played very well against Wausau West last week. Merrill’s #3 doubles team is starting to get used to playing with each other and they are playing more consistent. I knew it would be 4-3 either by winning or losing coming into this match, so I am very pleased with the result.”
Wausau-West Results-
#1 singles: Natasha Bailey beat Alexandra Johnson 6-1, 6-0
#2 singles: Alexis Kluth beat Audrey Ladewig 6-0, 6-0
#3 singles: Quinn Babiarz beat Angela Hinner 6-0, 6-1
#4 singles: Sophia Kohl beat Erin Murray 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3
#1 doubles: Katie Meyer/ Annika Eder beat Amelia Skoviera/Tessa Wheat 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
#2 doubles: Andreana Wilke/Ruby Edmondson beat Autumn Reissmann/Lauren Cohrs 6-3, 6-1
#3 doubles: Mollie Lemke/Ashley Zoborowski beat Zoey Dreikosen 6-2, 6-1
“The heart of a champion award definitely went to Erin Murray this meet,” Barton adds.
“She grinded out a long 3 set match, but just came up short in the end. Our number one and two doubles teams of Amelia Skoviera/Tessa Wheat and Autumn Reissmann/Lauren Cohrs played very well together. Alexandra Johnson played Natashia Bailey who took fifth place in the state last year. Alexandra kept up to Natashia’s heavy ground strokes for awhile before falling 6-1, 6-0. I think for the first meet of the year Merrill played well.”