Lady 'Dogs show improvement in first win
They may be young, but the Lady
Bulldogs are showing a lot of maturity on the tennis court this
spring. A Whitefish roster of mostly freshmen and sophomores put
together their first conference win of the season April 14 with a
4-3 victory over Libby.
Freshman Sloan Ellis had an exciting
three-set win over Chelsea Ahart at No. 2 singles. Ellis survived
three match points and pulled out the victory 7-5 in the third
set.
Laura Turco went toe-to-toe with
Libby’s Kira Rose. After splitting the first two sets 7-5, 1-6,
Turco grabbed the momentum in a tie-breaker to wrap up a win.
Whitefish coach Patrick Dryden noted
the team’s wins at No. 3 doubles. He said the duo of Anna Carpenter
and Maggie Frankino showed major improvements.
“They just dominated their match,”
Dryden said.
Whitefish hosted both Stevensville and
Hamilton on Saturday and managed to get in some good tennis matches
despite waking up to a fresh blanket of snow.
Stevensville topped Whitefish 5-2,
while Hamilton swept 7-0.
“Stevensville was pretty evenly
fought,” Dryden said. “I thought we could have dominated at
doubles, but we had six girls missing and really had to dig down
deep. A lot of girls came through for us.”
Hamilton was a “buzz saw,” Dryden
said.
“They are as good of a dual team as
I’ve seen,” he said. “Their No. 3 was just hitting rockets, and you
don’t expect to see that.”
He said he looks forward to playing
them again in a month to see how much Whitefish has improved.
The Lady ‘Dogs travel to Columbia Falls
on Thursday. Dryden expects to shake up the roster to get a look at
some other players.
“As a coach, I have some difficult
decisions to make,” he said. “We have 16 to 18 girls fighting for
varsity spots. If we keep plugging away, our future looks really
bright.”
Whitefish 4, Libby 3
Singles - Kaya Hardgrove, Libby, def.
Caroline Carbo 6-4, 6-2; Sloan Ellis, Whitefish, def. Chelsea Ahart
6-3, 4-6, 7-5; Laura Turco, Whitefish, def. Kira Rose 7-5 1-6, 7-6
(10-8); McKenzie Thomas, Whitefish, def. Shaelin Jenson 8-2.
Doubles - Kyla O’Brien/Allissa Buti,
Libby, def. Meghan Danczyk/Lindsey Viscomi 7-5, 6-2; Hannah
Sullivan/Tana Wilson, Libby, def. Ryan Chauner/Haley Craven 6-2,
6-3; Maggie Frankino/Anna Carpenter, Whitefish, def. Shaelin
Jenson/Mariah Briskin 6-0, 6-2.
Stevensville 5, Whitefish 2
Singles - Mersadiez Leese, S, def.
Sloan Ellis, 6-4, 6-0; Fran Farr, S, def. Lindsey Viscomi, 6-3,
6-0; Jessica Vickroy, S, def. Laura Turco, 6-3, 6-0; Meghan
Schmidt, S, def. Azlan Holiday, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6).
Doubles - Ryan Chauner/Haley Craven, W,
def. Courtney Schulz/Kilee Stepper, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3); Rachel
Coyle/Breanna Coyle, S, def. Lauren Cain/Hailey Vasquez, 6-2, 6-3;
Simone Craft/Mackenzie Wick, W, def. Lakota Brist/Katelin Hancock,
6-2, 6-0.
Hamilton 7, Whitefish 0
Singles - Mary Conwell, H, def. Lindsey
Viscomi, 6-2, 6-2; Nellie Moran, H, def. Sloan Ellis, 6-2, 6-2; Kim
Lamar, H, def. Laura Turco, 6-2, 6-3; Jill Toews, H, def. Simone
Craft, 6-2, 6-3.
Doubles - Kelsey Della-Silva/Stella
Quinlan, H, def. Lauren Cain/Hailey Vasquez, 6-2, 6-3; Varsha
Rao/Tara Stromberg, H, def. Azlan Holiday/Eden Hotzfield, 6-2, 6-3;
Erica Huppert/Meg Maclean, H, def. Ryan Chauner/Haley Craven, 6-2,
6-2.