Bison tennis dominates North Platte

Special to the Gazette

McCook 7 North Platte 2

Varsity Singles

1. Brianna Watkins lost to C. Marshall, 8-3

2. Hanah Swanhorst def. M. Goodwin, 8-6

3. Melissa Lyster def. A. Carl, 8-3

4. Amy Lester def. M. Allberry, 8-1

5. Cody Korus def. Laura Edwards, 8-2

6. Amy Been def. C. Cain, 8-0

Varsity Doubles

1. Lyster/Lester lost to Marshall/Goodwin, 8-6

2. Korus/Been def. Carl/Cain, 8-1

3. Watkins/Swanhorst def. Allberry/Edwards, 8-1

The team really dominated play throughout the day to earn a 7-2 win against a decent North Platte team. I told the team Wednesday at practice that we have not had much success against North Platte in the past. They came focused and ready to play. It was an awesome effort that they put forth, and I commend them for the way they took on the challenge.

We opened with doubles first and the girls continued to get things off to a good start, winning 2 out of the 3 matches. It is such a great motivation going into singles play when we can win atleast two of the doubles matches.

Melissa and Amy had some trouble in their match, committing too many unforced errors. It was not one of their better matches, but they played hard. North Platte had a very good doubles team, so the girls were up against a solid Class A opponent.

Cody and Amy had a great match and came away with a 8-1 victory. They were on today. They kept hitting balls deep and made North Platte play a defensive style of game. And keeping North Platte back off the net allowed Cody and Amy to put away some easy volleys at the net.

In singles play, Hanah played an awesome match. She was hitting her ground strokes well and kept the ball low. This is a win that Hanah should be proud of. She has been battling through some sickness the past couple of weeks, so I hope this is a sign that she is finally getting better. Hanah showed much improvement in her singles match today as opposed to last Tuesday against Lexington.

Overall, the team played with more confidence and was a lot more aggressive. Hitting with the ball machine on Wednesday really helped the girls develop better consistency and placement as well. This was the first time this season they were able to do that and it paid dividends for them.

Junior Varsity Singles

Audrie Krepcik def. H. Anderson, 6-2

Jessica Jankovits def. J. Schneider, 6-1

Kelsey O'Dea def. K. Schroeder, 6-5

Brooke Burton def. M. Milroy, 6-4

Amy Jo Stone def. T. Hlavaty, 6-3

Laura Brooks def. C. Lunkwitz, 6-1

Abi Burrows def. H. Fitzgerald, 6-1

Kaylee Henrickson lost to K. Callahan, 6-4

Stacy Howell def. S. Ziegler, 6-3

Bailey Lauer def. S. Armstrong, 6-4

Olivia Walter def. S. Kelly, 6-1

Danielle Barenberg def. L. Carl, 6-0

Junior Varsity Doubles

Krepcik/Jankovits def. Anderson/Schneider, 6-2

O'Dea/Stone def. Schroeder/Hlavaty, 6-0

Burton/Brooks def. Milroy/Lunkwitz, 6-1

Burrows/Henrickson def. Fitzgerald/Callahan, 6-2

Howell/Walter def. Ziegler/Armstrong, 6-4

Lauer/Barenberg def. Kelly/Carl, 6-0

The Junior Varsity continued to play extremely well, taking 17 of the 18 matches played. They picked up right where they left off last Tuesday and dominated their matches. With their continued improvement and hard work, they are pushing our varsity to equal the call. This is making for a competitive atmosphere in practice and exciting challenge matches. This is by far the deepest team I have had and I'm pleased with their progress so far. They all know they will get their chance in the near future and I'm just happy we were able to get some of them some court time today.

It's tough at times to get all 36 girls court experience, we will have to see what kind of numbers our opponents have to offer each week.