BY RICH PALZEWIC
SPORTS EDITOR
DE PERE – The Bay Port and De Pere girls’ tennis teams finally completed their Fox River Classic Conference dual Sept. 10.
With the match being rescheduled twice from Sept. 4 because of inclement weather, Mother Nature cooperated long enough for the Redbirds to walk away with a 6-1 victory over the Pirates at De Pere High School.
The only contest Bay Port won was at No. 3 singles, but the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches were very competitive.
The No. 3 doubles match went to De Pere by default after one of the Pirates’ players couldn’t make the rescheduled match due to a conflict. The original match was tied at three in the first set Sept. 4 before the rains came.
“We’ve lost a lot of matches 4-3 this season,” said De Pere head coach Dave Reinardy. “It took us a while to find our groove and get consistent again, but we’ve had too many unforced errors as a team. We have a number of girls that play multiple sports in the summer, so that also takes them away from tennis. The season is very front-loaded – about 60 percent of our season is finished before Labor Day, so if you’re not ready to go from day one, you’re playing catch up and losing matches.”
As for the victory over the Pirates, Reinardy was more than pleased.
“It’s nice to get a victory,” he said. “The groups that won today certainly played to their potential. Bay Port is a team that could have beaten us, so we are happy.”
Bay Port’s Brooke Huben won a three-set match over Anna Harmann in a hotly-contested No. 3 singles match.
“The kids are working hard, but we are having a little bit of a rough year,” said Bay Port coach Steve Matuszewski. “We have a tough schedule and the girls have to work hard to play at that level. We’ve got a lot of young girls that are starting to transition into that higher level of tennis. Until you play it, you don’t realize what it is. We got off to a good start last week when we started these matches, but then we got rained out. De Pere came out today with way more energy than us. It’s something we’ve talked to the girls about all year – we call it the Zippin Pippin effect. We have our ups and downs like that roller coaster, but I’d rather us ride the train and be slow and steady. We’ve been too inconsistent.”
De Pere improved to 7-17 overall as a team and Bay Port slipped to 3-15.
Bay Port vs. De Pere girls’ tennis Sept. 10 results
Singles
No. 1 — Carolyn Merkatoris (DP) def. Linnea McClintock (BP), 6-4, 6-1; No. 2 — Maeryn Shepherd (DP) def. Meghan Nysted (BP), 6-0, 6-1; No. 3 — Brooke Huben (BP) def. Anna Harmann (DP), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5; No. 4 — Hope Carter (DP) def. Abigail Ashley (BP), 6-2, 6-4.
Doubles
No. 1 — Tristyn Lueck-Audrey Ochsner (DP) def. Sophie Martell-Karina Verdette (BP), 5-7, 7-5, 6-2; No. 2 — Jill Reimer-Alayna Kellam (DP) def. Cathleen Graber-Callie Belschner (BP), 6-4, 6-4; No. 3 — Sophia McCarty-Molly Quinnette (DP) def. Autumn Arbour-Grace Krause (BP) by default.