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CITY, N.D. (VCHS) West Fargo Sheyenne came to VC for the first ever match between the two teams on Thursday, April 16th.

Coach Neilson’s Thoughts: No surprises today.  The state now knows how strong our doubles are and we showed it today by sweeping them.  After sweeping the doubles, we put the match away by winning the first out of the first three singles matches.  It was a great team win as every varsity player won at least one match today.

Clarissa and Reagan had a frustrating match at #1 doubles.  It was tough getting into a rhythm as their opponents were polar opposites in types of play.  One was a hard hitting, heavy topspin player while the other was a lobber and flat hitter.  Sheyenne played the match exactly how they needed to to beat us, but Claire and Reagan were able to regroup after losing the second set to play their game and put away the match.  Great job, ladies.

In singles, Reagan is figuring out her game, physically and mentally.  She is only a ninth grader and has already accomplished so much.  She has the potential for greatness; that greatness will be unleashed when she fully grasps and believes in pillars of Hi-Liner tennis.  She has no further to look than her doubles partner, Claire, to truly see the pillars in action.  Clarissa played the best match of her life against a out-of-this-world seventh grader.  She gave 110%.  She was positive throughout.  She believed she was going to win the next point.  She wasn’t afraid of losing.  It was a tough loss as Claire was right in both sets, but she came off the court holding her head high because she left it all on the court for her team.  Our assistant, Don Schaack, said that this was probably the best match that these courts have ever seen.  I would have to agree.

When the season started, I didn’t know how our doubles line-up would look and who would work together.  Sam and Maia are starting right where Sam and now graduated Sara Gilbertson left off last year.  They looked like they were having so much fun on the court together, working together as a team.  We have some things to work on, but the chemistry is there.  They are a lot of fun to watch.  After dispatching Sheyenne’s #2 doubles team, both Maia and Sam took that momentum into their singles matches were both won in straight sets.  I have never seen Sam play so smart and play with such a positive attitude – and it paid off.  For Maia, we worked patience yesterday in practice and she told me that if we wouldn’t have done that yesterday that she wouldn’t have been able to do what she did today.  Great job, ladies.

At three doubles, Abby and Rachel played for the first time this year together.  It was a rocky start, but both took coaching extremely well and was able to adjust their play on the fly.  After a worrisome first set, they executed the game plan very well in the second set for a 6-2 win.  Because of their trust and belief in the pillars and in turn, the coaches, they were able to try new things in the middle of the match with confidence which then lead to a victory.  Great job, ladies.

Breanna McDonald has started the season 2-0 in singles.  She is using the whole court following the three most basic tennis philosophies: location, location, location.  She used the short ball, deep ball, and angles.  Her opponent was always moving because of Breanna’s depth of shots and angle of shots.  This lead to Breanna dictating most points leading to a victory.  Breanna is another player that takes coaching really well.  She takes what the coaches say and puts it into action. Great job, Breanna.

Results:  (VC Always Listed First)

VC 6     WFS 3

Singles:

1.  Clarissa Olson lost to Monti Knewtson 7-5, 6-4

2.  Reagan Ingstad lost to Preeti Chemiti 6-2, 6-3

3.  Sam Coit beat Pooja Chemiti 6-1, 6-4

4.  Maia Wendel beat Annie McIntosh 6-3, 6-1

5.  Abby Ingstad lost to Katie Froemke 6-1, 6-3

6.  Breanna McDonald beat Olivia Dobrinz 6-3, 6-4

Doubles:

1.  Olson/R.Ingstad beat Knewtson/McIntosh 6-3, 5-7, 6-2

2.  Coit/Wendel beat Chemiti/Chemiti 6-2, 6-4

3.  A.Ingstad/Rachel Schueneman beat Froemke/Dobrinz

JV Results: 

Doubles

Hailee Peterson and Kallie Brandt                          W 6-1

Kiersten Opatz and Andrea McCubbin                  L 1-6

Haley Jensen and Breana Buringrud                      L 1-6