Doubles teams sweep Bigfork
The Lady Bulldogs tennis team came up
just short in their opening dual against Bigfork on Saturday, but
the 3-4 defeat left Whitefish coach Patrick Dryden optimistic about
the season.
“I’m very encouraged by the dual,”
Dryden said. “We’re really young, and I’m excited to build the
program.”
Nine of the 10 girls in the starting
line up are either freshman or sophomores.
Bigfork swept each of the singles
matches, but Whitefish countered with wins in each of the
doubles.
“We were out-gunned in the singles
matches, but we’re much deeper than they are,” Dryden said.
Sophomores Megan Danczyk and Lindsey
Viscomi earned the win at No. 1 doubles, impressing both Dryden and
Bigfork coach Paul Wallin.
“He wanted to know how long they’ve
been playing together,” Dryden said. “I told him, ‘About
24-hours.’”
Haley Craven and Ryan Chauner played
No. 2 doubles and showed “a lot of athleticism” in the win. Lauren
Cain and Hailey Vasquez won at the No. 3 double position with a
first-set tiebreaker.
Dryden noted that singles players
Simone Craft, Caroline Carbo and Sloan Ellis looked strong, and
that the scores don’t show exactly how well they played.
“Tennis scoring can be cruel,” Dryden
said. “They’re all very coachable and just need some more practice.
We might take our lumps now, but we hope to peak by divisional.
They have to remember that at this time last week, they had snow
shovels in their hands, not tennis racquets.
“I saw a lot of smiles on the court,
and that’s the key. We have to keep it all in perspective.”
Whitefish hosts conference foe Libby on
Thursday, then hosts both Stevensville and Hamilton on
Saturday.