TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
The Merrill Girls Varsity Tennis Team is fighting an uphill battle this season. With five girls making up the Varsity squad (Lauren Cohrs, Sarah Rell, Chloe Belant, Madisin Jacobs, and Kaytlyn Hulke), and the decision to forego creating Varsity doubles teams until the girls develop stronger skills for that format–which is a solid long-term strategy for the development of the team–the Varsity girls would need to win very single one of their singles matches to pull out a 4-3 team win. (Because the three doubles matches are always forfeited, that shows up as loss for Merrill and three wins for the opposing team.) That’s a lot of pressure.
Despite the odds being stacked against them, the Lady Jays are out there on the court serving up their best and giving it their all.
This week the Varsity Girls traveled to play Wausau East on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. East took the win, but the Merrill girls didn’t back down from the competition.
Match results in singles were:
No. 1 – Lola Berumen, Wausau East beat Lauren Cohrs, Merrill 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 – Abbey Olson, Wausau East beat Sarah Rell, Merrill 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 – Stella Glaser, Wausau East beat Madisin Jacobs, Merrill 6-0, 6-0
No. 4 – Alaina Berres, Wausau East beat Emily Frahm, Merrill 6-1, 6-0
Merrill forfeited all three doubles matches.
Head Girls Volleyball Coach Brad Barton had encouraging words for the girls, focusing on their progress. “Lauren Cohrs and Sarah Rell continue their reliable play,” he said. “Sarah has improved so much from last year.”
“Madisin Jacobs has some of the best angled shots on the team,” Barton added. And “Emily has great promise being only a Freshman.”
Merrill fell to a team record 1-11, he said.
Box Score
Merrill 0 @ Wausau East