Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Colleen McFarlane returns a ball Thursday during the second set of Shawano Community High School’s No. 2 doubles match against Xavier. McFarlane and Kelley Mastey lost 6-1, 6-2. SCHS lost the Bay Conference opener, 7-0.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School No. 2 singles player Katherine Kugel returns a ball against Xavier’s Rachel Wierzbinski on Thursday. Kugel lost, 6-3, 6-3.
Shawano Community High School head tennis coach Brian Beyer knew Xavier could pose a problem to his team in its Bay Conference opener because of its consistently strong tennis program.
Despite a 7-0 loss, Beyer was happy with the performance of his team, which produced tight matches throughout the day.
Xavier sent two flights to state last season, including current No. 1 singles player Marissa Walsh. Walsh won two matches before falling in the state quarterfinals.
Xavier head coach Rick Jandl didn’t know what to expect this season with the move to the Bay Conference, but he was “cautiously optimistic” about his team.
Opening conference play with a shutout “sort of puts our name out there to these other teams, and it builds some confidence within our team,” Jandl said.
A competitive Shawano team made Xavier work for the win, though.
Shawano’s Katherine Kugel, who dropped her match to Rachel Wierzbinski at two singles, battled for nearly 90 minutes before losing 6-3, 6-3 in one of the more competitive matches of the day.
“That was a little bit of a chess match. They both have kind of similar games,” Jandl said. “They both like to sit at the baseline and hit the ball pretty hard. It’s a matter of who is going to outlast the other in that one.”
Julia Haarth and Alexis Wilber also turned in a strong showing for Shawano at three doubles. They dropped their match to Lauren Schuh and Brenae Schubin, 6-3, 6-1.
Beyer thought one reason the Hawks didn’t post a victory Thursday was their inability to finish points.
“It’s one thing to keep the ball in play, but when you have a player that is just as consistent as you, you have to have a way to end the rally,” Beyer said. “That’s something we have to develop yet, both singles and doubles.”
Both coaches also complimented SCHS’s Cheyenne Knueppel on her performance at the four singles spot against Bethany Zoch. Their match contained many long points and games that ended up in a 6-2, 6-1 loss for Knueppel.
Beyer hopes his girls can take something from the early season loss to a strong team to help them get better.
“Today was a good learning experience for our team,” Beyer said. “I kind of wanted them to see where we wanted to be. It’s a really good team from top to bottom. They have good players, but I know our girls can get to that point.”
Xavier 7, Shawano 0
Singles: Marissa Walsh (X) def. Hannah Neumann 6-0, 6-0; Rachel Wierzbinski (X) def. Katherine Kugel 6-3, 6-3; Elise Curtin (X) def. Sydney Steinbock 6-0, 6-1; Bethany Zoch (X) def. Cheyenne Knueppel 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles: Jennifer Niemeyer/Alyssa Carew (X) def. Meghan Hoffman/Sara Hokenstad 6-2, 6-1; Becky Kramer/Ann Richey (X) def. Kelly Mastey/Colleen McFarlane 6-2, 6-2; Lauren Schuh/Brenae Schubin (X) def. Julia Haarth/Alexis Wilber 6-3, 6-1.