FOR ANTIGO TIMES

Some of the Antigo girls tennis players left town bright and early to head to the Menards YMCA Tennis Center in Eau Claire. First on the court was #1 singles,  Avery Nicholson facing Haya Dodin from Eau Claire Memorial. Nicholson immediately found out that her hands would be full, as Dodin hit with extreme speed and power with every swing of her racket. Nicholson stepped up to the challenge, though; she picked up her speed and adjusted her swing to adjust to a fast and hard hitter. Despite giving it her best effort, Nicholson fell early in a 6-0, 6-1 defeat.

Next was Margo Kelly at #3 singles. Her opponent, Laura Douglas from Hudson, covered the court well even though Kelly’s strength in varying her shot style and placement. The girls battled for every point, but Douglas made fewer errors, knocking Kelly out of the championship match. That meant Kelly’s next match of the day was to determine third place finisher of the sectional at #3 singles. Kelly went on to face Wausau East’s Lola Berumen. Kelly started strong with a slight edge over Berumen, nailing every shot. As the end of the first set approached, Kelly ran out of steam, and Berumen took advantage and cruised past her for the 6-4, 6-2 win.

Antigo’s last qualifying players were Ellie Preboski and Elli Stank at #3 doubles. They went out to face Eau Claire Memorial’s Lexie Patrow and Lauren Carmody. Their nerves seemed to get the best of the usually impenetrable Antigo duo. They powered through some points with ease but then Eau Claire Memorial would power back with sharp shots down open alleys and consistent netplay for a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Antigo. Preboski and Stank had a short break before heading back out to the courts to face Marshfield’s Christina Chin and Ana Paape for the third place title. The first set didn’t look good for Antigo, but the start of a new set lit a fire under the girls. Both Preboski and Stank positioned deep ground strokes and fired powerful volleys to knock Marshfield down. Antigo’s momentum carried into the third set, and their fierce fight turned into an exciting win, earning Preboski and Stank a third place finish in our sectional comprised of 17 teams.

Today’s matches may not have resulted in any qualifications for state; however, our Antigo players represented our team and community well. They faced staggering competition with notable effort and admirable pride. What a fantastic end to a great season.

Elli Stank