Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School No. 4 singles player Kaliegh Zoll returns a shot against Kayla Fritsch of West De Pere. Zoll’s 6-4, 6-3 victory was the Hawks’ only win in a 6-1 home loss.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School No. 3 doubles player Carlie Hinnefeld jumps to hit a ball at the net during a tight second set against Haley Fritsch and Emily Lau of West De Pere. Hinnefeld and partner Olivia Schultz fell, 6-2, 6-4.
Kaleigh Zoll, Shawano’s No. 4 singles player, played the longest match of the day, battling back and forth with West De Pere’s Kayla Fritsch for nearly two hours before walking away with a 6-4, 6-3 win Thursday.
It was Shawano’s only win in a 6-1 loss at Shawano Community High School in both teams’ first Bay Conference match of the season.
Zoll was cruising through the second set, leading 4-0, when Fristch mounted a comeback, winning each of the next three games.
Zoll put an end to Fritsch’s run by breaking her serve for the 5-3 lead.
“I was proud of the way she persevered and fought through that,” Shawano head coach Matt Zoll said.
The coach liked what he saw out of the rest of the team as well, especially at the top two singles positions. Cheyenne Knueppel and Sydney Steinbach each showed improvements from the first tournament of the season earlier this week.
Kneuppel lost to West De Pere’s Katie O’Connor 6-0, 6-0, and Steinbach fell to Allison Grassel 6-1, 6-1.
“Even though their set (scores) didn’t show it, they were really trying to take control of the point,” Zoll said. “They showed a lot more confidence in their stroke and trying to win points instead of trying to let the other person mess up.”
The No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams also fought hard, testing West De Pere all afternoon. Both teams lost by scores of 6-2, 6-4.
“What (assistant coach) Bob (Kurkiewicz) and I like to see is they are using a lot of the skills and tactics that we’re working on in practice,” Zoll said. “And that’s a very positive thing. It shows how receptive these kids really are. They want to learn the game, and they are applying it the next day in a varsity match.”
Zoll believes West De Pere helped show his team what to expect when facing some of the top teams in the area.
“They got experience against kids that are going to hit the ball back at them well,” Zoll said. “They got experience against kids that have stronger serves than most of the matches they saw Monday and Tuesday. That’s something we can carry forward.”
The Hawks are 3-4 in duals heading into a tournament on Saturday. The conference’s best team, Xavier, awaits on Tuesday.
West De Pere 6, Shawano 1
Singles: Katie O’Connor (WDP) def. Cheyenne Knueppel (S) 6-0, 6-0; Allison Grassel (WDP) def. Sydney Steinbach (S) 6-1, 6-1; Bayley Lau (WDP) def. Lydia Williams (S) 6-1, 6-3; Kaleigh Zoll (S) def. Kayla Fritsch (WDP) 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles: Larissa Wagner/Ireland Slattery (WDP) def. Lexi Wilber/Gabrielle Tuma (S) 6-0, 6-0; Amy Halbmaier/Olivia Thomson (WDP) def. Julia Haarth/Addie Shuler (S) 6-2, 6-4; Haley Fritsch/Emily Lau (WDP) def. Carlie Hinnefeld/Olivia Schultz (S) 6-2, 6-4.