“She likes to go out there, hit the ball hard and finish the points in as few strokes as possible.” – Big Foot-Williams Bay tennis coach Jim Karedes
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
As the 2012 season progressed, it became pretty clear that Big Foot sophomore girls tennis player Annie McGrail was on a path to success.
Last week, she took another big step in that journey – and punched her ticket to this week’s WIAA Division 2 State Tournament on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
The state trip is the second straight for McGrail, who competed in doubles last year with Williams Bay graduate Lauren Speare. McGrail’s older sister, Liz, also was in the field a year ago.
But this time around, the spotlight is all on Annie McGrail, who finished third at the sectional last week.
“Obviously, (getting to state) is a big deal for Annie, as well as Big Foot-Williams Bay tennis,” coach Jim Karedes said. “Annie has an opportunity not afforded to most athletes over their high school athletic careers, and that is a berth in her second consecutive state tournament appearance.”
At the sectional, McGrail opened play with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Ripon senior Nicole Thorson, but fell in the next round 3-6, 3-6 to Madison Edgewood senior Sara Murphy.
But McGrail bounced back to defeat McFarland senior Abby Polipnick 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, to finish third and secure a trip to Madison.
Karedes said he has seen McGrail’s game change a bit throughout the season, which helped her get back to state.
“Annie has made significant gains this year,” he said. “She struggled against some opponents earlier this season as a result of lacking experience against players that don’t hit the ball as solid as she does. … She likes to go out there, hit the ball hard and finish the points in as few strokes as possible.”
To take that next step, Karedes said McGrail had to learn to be patient against opponents who wanted to grind out a match instead of battle at a breakneck pace.
“Some of those opponents even went so far as to not worry about winning any points, but rather, allowing Annie to beat herself due to a lack of patience and waiting for the right ball to attack,” Karedes said.
“Her biggest learning target, therefore, this season has been building her patience in points.”
As a team, Big Foot was 10th out of 18 teams at the sectional. Madison Edgewood was first, followed by Ripon and Lodi.
Big matchup first
McGrail (18-11 overall) faced a stiff test right from the start in Madison, as she faced Regis junior Maria Neff (26-4). Neff received one of the field’s top-eight seeds.
The winner Thursday night advanced to a second-round matchup Friday against either Aquinas junior Anna Smith (16-13) or Roncalli senior Emily Halvorsen (22-6).
The top seed in the Division 2 field is Notre Dame de la Baie Academy sophomore Ellie Zimmerman (23-0), who won the state title as a freshman.
Karedes said he hopes McGrail can lean on her experience from last year in the opening-round – and beyond – this time around.
But she also has to make the transition from singles to doubles as well.
“Singles is a whole new game compared to doubles,” he said. “She’s going to be out on the court as an underclassman with nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
As far as goals for the weekend go, Karedes said he wants McGrail to focus more on maintaining a consistent level of play than worrying about the final outcome.
He figures that part will take care of itself.
“If she can remain consistent in shot selection, knowing when to play offense, when to play defense and when to rally, she could have a solid finish to an excellent season already,” Karedes said.
“More importantly, at this juncture in the road, I look forward to her gaining even more confidence and composure on high school’s biggest stage.”
