Jaguars advance 3 to Sectionals in girls tennis

By Murray Gleffe, Correspondent

GREEN BAY-The Ashwaubenon Jaguar girls tennis team sent Emily DeLaurelle, Caylee Behnke, and Maddy Coopmans through to Sectionals. As a team, the Jaguars won seven overall matches (14 points), and finished second behind Notre Dame Academy.

Emily DeLaurelle went into the Subs with the second seed and a 24-2 overall record. In the first round, she fought off a pesky Izzy Aherns from Green Bay Southwest in straight sets and then faced her toughest competition in quite a few matches from Molly Czachor of DePere.

DeLaurelle kept playing her style of game in hopes that Czachor would make mistakes from the backcourt. Czachor stepped around the ball and kept hitting big forehands down the line to beat her during a two-game stretch early in the second set. In the end, though, DeLaurelle’s consistency won out, and she was the first Jaguar player to advance though to Sectionals in two years.

Maddy Coopmans and Caylee Behnke became known as the ‘cardiac kids’ at Four Seasons Tennis Club. After winning their first match vs the Redbirds, the Jaguar duo faced a very strong Bay Port Pirates team (Emily Wick and Cathleen Graber) in round no. 2 to see who would advance.

For all intent purposes, it looked like it would be the Pirates. The Pirates swept through the first set with ease 6-2 and then went up 5-3 in the second. Facing elimination, (two points away from losing the match) Coopmans and Behnke stayed on course and fought back to force a second set tiebreaker in which the pair pulled out 7-3. After the comeback, to force a 3^rd, the pair would not be denied a Sectional berth. They came out and hit volleys at their opponents feet, used sharper angles, and served majestically. Coopmans and Behnke pulled out the final set 6-3 to move on.

WIAA Girls Tennis (Jaguar Results)

Singles:

1 Julia Slusarek (NDA) over Marisa Marohl (ASH) 6-2, 6-2

2 Bitz Steinhoff (ASH) over Emma Klug (GB SW) 6-1, 6-1

2 Sofia Magnuson (PUL) over Steinhoff (ASH) 6-1, 6-0

3 Aubree Helstad (ASH) over Trina Hanold (GB SW) 6-1, 6-1

3 Jacqueline Brady (NDA) over Helstad (ASH) 6-0, 6-0

4 Emily DeLaurelle (ASH) over Izzy Ahrens (GB SW) 6-2, 6-0

4 DeLaurelle (ASH) over Molly Czachor (DP) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles:

1 Devan Perry and Rachel Ceaglske (BP) over Jayme Kiser and Peyton Wright (ASH) 6-1, 6-2

2 Maddy Coopmans and Caylee Behnke (ASH) over Alayna Kellam and Audrey Oschner (DP) 6-1, 6-2