We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Chinook senior Hattie Niederegger returns a volley in Great Falls Saturday. Niederegger and her double partner, sophomore Sierra Swank went 3-1 on the day.
The Chinook Sugarbeeter tennis team is already performing at a high level and was hoping for two great days in Great Falls to continue improving their game.
It turns out that one thing that can slow the 'Beeters down is the weather. The storm that passed through last Friday caused the cancellation of play Friday, limiting the team to a single day in Great Falls.
When they took to the court Saturday it was business as usual with the 'Beeters winning 21 of 23 matches played.
The Fort Benton/Fairfield Duals is a great early season tournament played on the courts that Great Falls has to offer.
The 'Beeters matched up in Duals with Townsend, Fairfield, Simms, and a combined squad from Whitehall and Harlem.
The Music Festival going on in Shelby limited the availability of several teams to bring full rosters to the meet.
Chinook would be without the services of junior Nicole McCracken, the teams slotted number three singles player.
With her slot open it provided the opportunity for others to step up and play stiffer competition. sophomore Jamie Roth, junior Bailey Zumbrun, and sophomore Erika Arnold, "They all showed a lot of promise in the action they saw," stated head coach Thom MacLean.
"The format was a little different than normal. We played best two of three abbreviated sets (they start at 2 – 2) with a "supertiebreak" to decide the match it they split sets," added MacLean.
Overall the 'Beeters did very well. Senior Brooke Nicholson, sophomore Megan Pruttis and the doubles team of senior Lauren Harshman and senior Cortney Gunderson all finished with perfect 4 – 0 records on the day.
The doubles team of senior Hattie Niederegger and sophomore Sierra Swank finished with a mark of 4-1.
Nicholson began her day with a very tough match against Jess Hamlin of Townsend.
Nicholson is one of the best singles players in the state having finished third at the state tournament the past two seasons, but Saturday morning she got off to a slow start before coming on strong to earn the victory.
She played an epic 14-12 tie break to win the opening set and then cruised through the second set to earn the win, "Brooke is a very smart and an incredible athlete. When she gets into close matches, she usually finds a way to figure out her opponent and pull out a win," said MacLean.
"Megan Pruttis is our 'steady Eddie' She faced some good opponents, but she has a game that just wears you down and outlasts the other player," added MacLean.
On the doubles side senior Lauren Harshman and senior Cortney Gunderson dropped their opening set, "Lauren and Cortney practiced their slow starts this weekend, much to my chagrin. On the bright side, it gave them the opportunity to work on their comeback skills and their mental muscles," stated MacLean.
Senior Hattie Niederegger and sophomore Sierra Swank also had a great day, "They are really starting to gel as a team. There was a lot of great doubles competition with the teams we faced, so, once again, we're learning where our own weaknesses are so we can try to correct them," concluded MacLean.
The Beeters travel to Havre Tuesday and to Fort Benton on Friday and Saturday for another series of duals against Fort Benton, Fairfield, Whitehall, Simms, Harlem, and others.
