By Murray Gleffe, Sports Correspondent
The Jaguar girls tennis team made a statement in a number of flights en route to a 6-1 victory over the Hornets Thursday afternoon at Pioneer Park. The Jaguars improve to 10-6 on the season.
Senior Bitz Steinhoff (#2 Singles) had to use her block back skills almost the entire match with a backup racquet. Steinhoff broke the strings in warmups and had to rely on a secondary demo racquet. However, that didn’t stop Steinhoff! Kaitlyn Perret continually ripped serves and forehands to Steinhoff who played well back of the baseline and kept retrieving ball after ball. Steinhoff’s style eventually frustrated Perret and she started to make mistakes all over the court. Steinhoff used a 6-3 first set to bolster her confidence and she didn’t lose a game in set number two to capture the match in straight sets.
Emily DeLaurelle (#4 Singles) used a similar counterpunching, angle-off approach on her Hornet opponent on the day (Kristin Capwell). DeLaurelle came into the match with a team high 17 wins and didn’t disappoint on this day. DeLaurelle started the match with a 21-hit rally on the opening point and it set the tone for her during the 12 games she played and ultimately won. By the end of the match, DeLaurelle had hit 18 winners, to Capwell’s 46 unforced errors.
Jayme Kiser and Peyton Wright (#1 Doubles) got back on track with a complete match vs Vandenhouten and Yantes of Preble. The duo were aggressive at the net, connected on 23 volley winners, and hit only three double faults. With the win, the pair moved back to the .500 mark on the season and will be looking to put together a big back half effort to their season.
Ashwaubenon 6 Green Bay Preble 1
Singles:
1 Marisa Marohl (Ash) over Adalia Marshall (Gbp) 6-0, 6-2
2 Bitz Steinhoff (Ash) over Kaitlyn Perret (Gbp) 6-3, 6-0
3 Aubree Helstad (Ash) over Becca Goska (Gbp) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
4 Emily DeLaurelle (Ash) over Krysten Capwell (Gbp) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles:
1 Jayme Kiser and Peyton Wright (Ash) over Chloe Vandenhouten and Alexis Yantes (Gbp) 6-0, 6-0
2 Maddy Coopmans and Caylee Behnke (Ash) over Mai Vang and Hezly Lerma (Gbp) 6-0, 6-3
3 Mai Nou Vang and Annissa Derbique (Gbp) over Addison Stromberg and Kennedy Conradt (Ash) 5-7, 7-6, 6-4