By Adam Knoll
Sports correspondent
The Whitewater High School girls tennis program has had a busy few weeks, playing four matches since Sept. 4, and playing a string of good programs.
First on the docket was Big Foot, in which Whitewater won four matches to Big Foot’s three.
Serra Anderson was the only Whippet to win a singles match. Sally Hixon, Alli Sedmark, Whitney Treder, Milena Maroske, Emma Stutzman and Ali Ketterhagen all helped win their doubles matches to help win the day.
“Tonight was one of the windiest matches I have ever seen during the girls’ season in 25 years,” head coach Tim Nelson said. “Overall, I was very pleased with how we played this evening.”
“Serra ended up playing the deciding match of the evening,” Nelson continued. “By the middle of her first set things were all tied up at 3. Her first set kept going back and forth but she was able to pull it out in the tiebreaker. Then after falling behind 0-2 in the second she took over and won the match.”
Izzy Zahn had a tough match against the defending conference champion though Nelson said she “was hitting the ball pretty well. Annie is just a very strong player.”
“Half of this Big Foot team went to state last year and we were able to pull out a straight set victory. Our only problem is completely self inflicted, we are double faulting way too often,” Nelson explained. “Whitney and Milena played exceptionally tonight. After losing the first game they won 11 in a row before losing another one. They played very well in all areas.”
McFarland a challenge
Whitewater was not so fortunate in the next match against McFarland, falling 6-1. Zahn, Andi Markham, Amanda Kraayvanger and Anderson all lost their singles matches but Treder and Maroske won their doubles match.
“We played a solid team from top to bottom,” Nelson said after the match. “We saw a team that could take advantage of any weakness that we had. We hit some pretty nice shots throughout the evening but McFarland just hit a few more.”
“Whitney and Milena continue to hustle and gut out wins,” Nelson explained. “I can’t say that anyone played poorly tonight. We just ran into a team with more experience and depth. We need to keep working now and try to get ready for our match.”
Close loss to Edgerton
Whitewater would not have to wait long to take on its next opponent, Edgerton. However, the results were not what the Whippets were hoping for as they fell 4-3.
Kraayvanger and Anderson won their singles matches and Hixon with Sedmark took their doubles match.
“(It was) a close match but we just couldn’t quite pull it out,” Nelson said of the contest against Edgerton. “Izzy played really well tonight, but Mogden was able to hit some nice angles and pull out the match.”
“The girls played well at times and at other times our inexperience had us going out of our way to lose points that we had won. We have to learn from these errors so that we can move up to the next level. I am confident that they can do so and will continue to get better,” Nelson said.
Some sweet revenge
During an 11-hour long day, the Whippets endured and took 13 out of 21 matches and second place at the quad event held at Edgerton.
The Whippets would play each team seven times, beating Edgerton 6-1, Columbus 4-3 but losing to Oregon 4-3.
“After losing to Edgerton on Thursday, the girls were able to turn a couple of losses from that night into wins today and were able to get the win,” Nelson said.
Treder and Maroske at No. 2 doubles and Stutzman and Ketterhagen at No. 3 doubles took first place. Kraayvanger at No. 3 singles, Anderson at No. 4 singles and Sally Hixson and Alli Sedmak at No. 1 doubles all earned second place finishes.
“Whitney and Milena continue to play good aggressive tennis,” Nelson said. “They work really well together and really had things going well all day. Emma and Ali continue to improve as the year goes on. Today they showed signs of really getting it, and then there were other times where their inexperience popped up.
“The difference today was that they were able to turn things around in the middle of matches when things weren’t going well, this is something that they haven’t been able to do up to this point,” Nelson said of the improved play for the Whippets.
