Shawano, Pulaski girls tennis teams finish 2-1 at quad

Hawks down Red Raiders in opening matchup
By: 
Morgan Rode
Sports Editor

The Shawano and Pulaski girls tennis teams each posted 2-1 records at a quad on Aug. 18 in Shawano.

Shawano earned a 4-3 win over Pulaski and 4-3 victory over Oshkosh North but dropped a 7-0 match to Manitowoc Lincoln. After dropping its match to Shawano, Pulaski responded with a 6-1 win over Oshkosh North and 5-2 triumph over Manitowoc Lincoln. Manitowoc Lincoln also went 2-1, while Oshkosh North lost all three of its matches.

Shawano won all four singles matches against Pulaski to emerge victorious.

The most intense singles match between Shawano and Pulaski came in a No. 2 matchup between the Hawks’ Adison Moesch and Red Raiders’ Isabella Skalecki. Moesch emerged with a 7-5, 2-6, 10-8 win.

In No. 1 action, Shawano’s Jenna Ainsworth picked up a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kylie Coel. Shawano’s Sarah Carroll knocked off Ayla Groteluschen 7-5, 6-1 in No. 3 action, while the Hawks’ Ireland Setterman topped Carlee Elliott 6-2, 6-1.

Pulaski won all three of its doubles matches against Shawano in straight sets.

Madeline Diefenthaler and Ruth Krause teamed up for a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Shawano’s Anna Etten and Samantha Martzke in No. 1 action. Pulaski’s No. 2 duo of Sarah Johnson and Josie Steeno defeated Shawano’s Ava Huntington and Ariana Albert 6-2, 6-2, while the Red Raiders’ No. 3 team of Mikalah Due and Hailey Jansen picked up a 6-4, 6-4 win over the Hawk duo of Rachael Cooper and Natalee Jung.

The strong doubles play was a sign of things to come for Pulaski, with all three duos going 3-0 on the day.

Diefenthaler and Krause won 6-3, 6-2 against Manitowoc Lincoln and 6-1, 6-1 against Oshkosh North. Johnson and Steeno won 6-3, 6-3 against Manitowoc and 6-2, 6-2 against Oshkosh, while Due and Jansen battled for 6-1, 7-6 (6) and 6-3, 6-2 wins in their respective matchups against those teams.

“Josie and I have been best friends since we were little, so that connection helped us to communicate and talk through strategies,” said Johnson, who added the 3-0 day was a good confidence booster. “But most importantly we just try to have fun with it because our coach always says, ‘The winning and losing will take care of itself.’”

“In order to win all three matches the key was our communication and commitment to the matches,” said Due. “We had a rough patch where we fell into a slump and they had a game up on us, but we pulled through by communicating even more, working together and hitting more strategically placed shots.”

Skalecki and Robaidek earned wins at No. 2 and 4 singles, respectively, against Manitowoc. Robaidek won 6-4, 6-2, while Skalecki emerged with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Coel fell 6-0, 6-0 in No. 1 action, while Groteluschen was defeated 6-1, 6-2 in No. 3 play.

Coel (No. 1), Skalecki (No. 2) and Groteluschen (No. 3) all won singles matches against Oshkosh North. Coel won 6-4, 6-2, Skalecki triumphed 6-4, 6-3 and Groteluschen walked off the court with a 6-4, 6-3 advantage. Olivia Burdette competed at No. 4 singles, dropping a hard-fought 6-3, 6-4 match.

While there were plenty of positives on the day, Pulaski players also noted some aspects of the game that need some attention.

“After playing those three tough teams today our team learned that we need to continue to have fun with it and not get to caught up in our heads,” said Johnson.

“Today we learned we are a stronger team than we thought,” said Due. “We definitely need to continue to communicate and work cohesively to win more points effectively. We get overly aggressive at times and hit the ball too long or into the net when trying to poach. I think if we are more patient in the future these games can run shorter and we can finish quicker.”

Strong singles play again lifted Shawano to a win over Oshkosh North.

Setterman rallied to a 1-6, 6-0, 10-6 victory in No. 1 action. Rachael Carroll also competed in a three-set battle, but fell 4-6, 6-1, 13-11 in No. 2 play. Huntington won 6-3, 6-3, while Cooper picked up a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 3 and 4 singles play, respectively.

Etten and Martzke claimed Shawano’s lone doubles win of the day against Oshkosh North. The No. 1 doubles pair won 6-1, 6-1 in that match.

Jung and Hadley Rettke lost a 6-2, 6-7 (2), 10-5 battle in No. 2 doubles action against Oshkosh, while Rylee Trochil and Ashley Hanssen were defeated 6-4, 6-2 in No. 3 play.

Etten and Martzke fell 6-0, 6-1 in No. 1 doubles play against Manitowoc. Albert and Trochil fell 6-2, 6-3 in No. 2 play, while Rettke and Hanssen lost 6-3, 6-4 in No. 3 action.

Moesch put up the team’s best fight in singles play, again playing a three-set thriller. This time, she fell 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 in No. 2 action.

In No. 1 singles action, Ainsworth dropped a 6-1, 6-0 match. Sarah Carroll lost 6-3, 6-2 in No. 3 action, while Huntington was topped 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4.

Ainsworth’s matchup came against a former state semifinalist, and despite the setback, drew praise from coach Matt Zoll for working hard in the match.

“Playing against Olivia (Minikel) gave me a great opportunity to play against a highly-skilled player,” said Ainsworth. “I used this match to test out some different techniques and strategies that I now know I can implement into future matches.

“The main takeaway I got out of playing Olivia was that different players require different strategies to beat. A good tennis player will see their opponent, find their weakness, and exploit it for an easy win. I learned that this is something that I have to improve on going into the rest of the season.”

The Hawks as a whole learned plenty of things during their busy day on the court.

“Our team learned that movement is very important in winning a match,” said Moesch. “Also, being able to anticipate the opponent’s next shot is very key to having a strong match. However, after a busy week full of matches it gets harder to play your best and push yourself and make the smarter play over the easy one.”

“Our team played well under tough circumstances,” said Ainsworth. “A few of us had to battle back and stay positive in order to win. One thing we do really well is keep our cool when in close games or tiebreakers. Overall we need to improve accuracy and strategy to stick with these tougher teams.”

Moesch credited getting a full week of practice before playing in any matches has helped the team get its fall season off to a strong start, which has helped build up the confidence of the team.

“I think we are pretty confident as a team, but we still respect all of our opponents we play,” said Moesch. “But we still do set very high standards for ourselves to do the best we can. So, yes, while it is still early in the season, we do feel very confident.”

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