Netters tune up for Saturday’s regional

By Becky Walz,

The Decorah girls’ tennis team was ready to play against a solid Independence squad coming away with a convincing 9-0 victory Monday on its home court.
“Realizing that the regular season was down to just a couple of meets, the girls picked up their games to get ready for the postseason that begins on Saturday against Osage at the Luther College courts,” said Coach Larry Berland. 
“Decorah’s No. 1-4 players, Annalise Skrade, Cady Peterson, Morgan Brauer and Mara Holland respectively, let their rackets do the talking and squashed any hope of victory for their opponents right from the start. The top four were dialed in and took full advantage of their opponents’ weaker strokes,” Berland noted.
Kristi Kjome-Johnson and Kendra Bigler playing in the No. 5 and 6 spots in the lineup found the going a bit tougher but refused to step back from the challenge and were able to close out their opponents in straight sets. 
“Bigler has become the queen of tie breakers in the recent meets. Her match against the Independence girl was no different having to pull out a winning tie breaker to secure a win in the first set. The results of this meet indicate that our entire team is playing some of their best tennis now when it really matters. When we get into postseason play the team with a solid six players will be the team that prevails at the end,” concluded Berland.
In JV action, Decorah won 29 matches, lost 28 and tied three.
Decorah will have another prime time tune up match on Thursday, May 13 when the Vikes take on Union in La Porte City. Union is the only team that Decorah has lost to this season in a dual. 
Regional play begins at Luther College on Saturday, May 15, versus Osage at 9 a.m. The winner will face the victor between Charles City and Aplington-Parkersburg at 1 p.m.  

Singles: No. 1 Annalise Skrade (Dec) defeated Nikki Higgins (I) 6-1, 6-1; No. 2 Cady Peterson (Dec) defeated Shanna Kleve (I) 6-0, 6-1; No. 3 Morgan Brauer (Dec) defeated Taryn Nolting (I) 6-1, 6-0; No. 4 Mara Holland (Dec) defeated Kenzie Schroeder (I) 6-0, 6-2; No. 5 Kristi Kjome-Johnson (Dec) defeated Addi Bailey (I) 6-2, 6-3; No. 6 Kendra Bigler (Dec) defeated Avery Patton (I) 7-6, (12-10), 6-3
Doubles: No. 1 Peterson/Brauer (Dec) defeated Kleve/Nolting (I) 6-2, 6-1; No. 2 Skrade/Holland (Dec) defeated Higgins/Schroeder (I) 6-1, 6-0; No. 3 Kjome/Johnson (Dec) defeated Bailey/Patton (I) 6-1, 6-1

Submit A Comment

Fill out the form to submit a comment. All comments require approval by our staff before it is displayed on the website.

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments