The Bluejay girls tennis team dropped another 4-3 conference match last week in Tuesday’s road match at Wausau West, then ran into a tough Tiger team at home on Thursday and gave up just its second 7-0 loss of the year.
Despite falling to 0-4 in the WVC, the Merrill girls are approaching each match with a strong attitude.
“We’ve lost some very close matches recently, and one last week that wasn’t so close,” MHS coach Janet Thompson said. “You might think that the team is discouraged, but if you did you’d be wrong.
“This team is made up of athletes that – week in and week out – have the goal of becoming better tennis players. We are without a doubt achieving that goal! Girls tennis in the Valley is very tough and we knew that going in. Most of the teams have so much depth in both singles and doubles.
“We may not get the ‘W,’ but that does not at all mean that we didn’t play well. Every week all of our girls continue to play smarter and more aggressive tennis.”
Wausau West swept doubles and grabbed the deciding win at #1 singles.
“Against West we again were quite successful in singles,” Thompson said. “Michaela (Raleigh) played an opponent who used a very hard slice. While she struggled a bit the first set, she used those games to learn how to return those shots. She did much better the second set, and will be able to use this experience for future matches. Our wins in the match came from Frances (Moonen), Rachel (Bayer), and Katie (Nelson), who are attaining very good records at their respective flights.”
Scores–Singles–#1 Michaela Raleigh L 6-0, 6-4; #2 Frances Moonen W 7-5, 7-5; #3 Rachel Bayer W 6-2, 7-6 (8-6); #4 Katie Nelson W 6-3, 6-3. Doubles–#1 Katie Purmal/Kayla Sutton L 6-2, 6-0; #2 Alli Prebeg/Grace Huftel L 6-0, 6-0; #3 Donna Sczygelski/Katie Tomalak L 6-1, 6-2.
Marshfield mash
The Tigers pushed Merrill to the limit on Thursday.
“The Marshfield match was closer than it looks on paper,” Thompson said. “Katie Nelson played another hard-fought, marathon match. Nearly every point played was a long rally. Our doubles players are really showing progress on their play at the net and also overall strategy. That’s a big part of success in doubles, and the girls are making significant improvements.”
Scores–Singles–#1 Raleigh L 6-2, 6-2; #2 Moonen L 6-1, 6-1; #3 Bayer L 6-4, 6-2; #4 Nelson L 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (9-7). Doubles–#1 Purmal/Sutton L 6-3, 6-1; #2 Prebeg/Huftel L 6-1, 6-0; #3 Alissa Brewer/Cassandra Plachetka L 6-1, 6-0.