By Becky Walz,
The Decorah girls’ tennis team could surprise a few people this season as it looks to retain the conference title and send multiple athletes back to state.
The Vikings returned nine letter winners and have a host of athletes hungry to get a turn on the court.
Excited to get the season started is head coach Larry Berland, who has been at the helm for 45 seasons. Joining him courtside are assistants Reg Laursen, Kristy Shilling and Phil Yee.
The Decorah girls’ tennis team could surprise a few people this season as it looks to retain the conference title and send multiple athletes back to state.
The Vikings returned nine letter winners and have a host of athletes hungry to get a turn on the court.
Excited to get the season started is head coach Larry Berland, who has been at the helm for 45 seasons. Joining him courtside are assistants Reg Laursen, Kristy Shilling and Phil Yee.
What a season
The Vikings of 2021 featured two returning letter winners — Cady Peterson and Morgan Brauer. Those two formed the nucleus of a team of nearly 30 athletes eager to bring home a victory.
As the postseason approached, Decorah was primed and ready to compete at a high level, losing just one dual meet during the season. At the North Central Tennis Conference tournament, the Vikings crowned all six individuals and two doubles teams as champs.
In their fourth meeting of the year, Decorah faced Osage in the opening round regional action, winning all flights to advance to face Aplington-Parkersburg in the second round, winning easily 5-0. In the team regional final, Decorah faced Dubuque Wahlert and punched their ticket to state with a 5-0 victory.
Decorah had two doubles teams also reach the state level in 2021 — Mara Holland and Annalise Skrade, along with Cady Peterson and Morgan Brauer.
At state, the Viking netters fell short of reaching the final four, falling to Cedar Rapids Xavier 5-0. The doubles teams went on to reach the elite eight in Class 1A. Holland and Skrade finished the season with an 18-5 record in doubles competition, while Peterson and Brauer posted a 10-2 dual meet record.
Graduating at the end of the season were Cady Peterson, Morgan Brauer, Kendra Bigler, Katie Golly, Rachel Bower and Emma Buddenberg.
Lots of players
Unlike last year, Coach Berland will have a larger contingency of letter winners to look to.
They will be led by junior Annalise Skrade, who played as the No. 1 singles player last season, as well as No. 1 doubles.
Mara Holland is also back with experience from the state doubles tournament, along with Kristi Kjome-Johnson and Nadia Johnson.
Coach Berland has a host of other letter winners to rely on, including seniors Paige Lange and Allison Pavlovec; juniors Jenna Hartz and Haley Gossman; and sophomore Evon Leitz.
Others looking to break into the line-up and contribute to the Vikes’ success include two seniors, one junior, 13 sophomores and 11 freshmen. Coach Berland is especially excited about Hailey Martin, Mara Pankow, Liz Andrusishin, Braunwyn Darrington, Anika Grinna, Avah Hove, Kenzie Monk, Brenna Parker, Hazel Quam, Cori Timm, Alexis Walker, Hailey Wood, Camryn Holland and Klaar Short.
And of course, there’s also the potential for someone else to find a place in the line-up.
Overall, Coach Berland has lots of reasons to be excited about the team.
“Decorah returns several experienced players that have been very successful in the past that will be called upon to continue to be strong leaders,” noted the long-time coach. “Those girls better be pushing themselves to improve as there are several girls that are ready to push the top girls for varsity spots on the team. The juniors, sophomores and freshmen made tremendous progress last season and are ready to fill key spots after last year’s graduation. If they do, remains to be seen.”
Expectations
While the road is seemingly paved for the Vikings’ success this season, there could be a few teams standing in Decorah’s way including Oelwein, Charles City, Waverly-Shell Rock, Osage, Union and Independence.
Coach Berland expects his squad to have another super season if the weather allows the Vikings the opportunity for maximum outdoor practice.
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