Bison girls tennis team falls to Ogallala 7-2

OGALLALA -- The McCook High School varsity girls tennis team fell 7-2 at Ogallala Thursday and the junior varsity went 4-0 in doubles.

McCook's dual record is 1-1.

Winning varsity matches for the Bison were Jen Chmiel, who improved to 9-0 in No. 2 singles with an 8-3 win over Ogallala's Catherine Ruhlman; and No. 4 singles player Angela Lichtenwaldt, who defeated Rachel Allen 8-2.

Dropping matches were Hannah Putz, No. 1 singles, 8-2 to Pam Miller; Melissa Lyster, No. 3 singles, 8-4 to Maggie Abbott; Allyx Shields, No. 5 singles, 8-2 to Shaina McBride; Amy Lester, No. 6 singles, 8-4 to Emily Huckfeldt; Lichtenwaldt-Shields, No. 1 doubles, 8-5 to Allen-Ruhlman; Lyster-Lester, No. 2 doubles, 8-4 to Abbott-Huckfeldt; and Putz-Chmiel, No. 3 doubles, 8-6 to Miller-McBride.

"We opened play with doubles and got off to a horrible start, dropping all three matches," said McCook tennis coach Matt Wiemers. "I don't think we have ever been swept in doubles play before. It's tough to come back and have to win five of the six singles matches, when you are already down three matches.

"The team was disappointed with the outcome and how poorly they performed. The effort was there, but they made to many mental mistakes and didn't play very consistent tennis.

"They put themselves into a difficult situation that they couldn't recover from. Angela and Jen played well in singles and came away with our two team wins.

"Our junior vasity swept all four matches played, as they did a great job of keeping the ball in play and showed a lot of hustle on the court. They are getting better and continue to improve with each match."

The Bison girls tennis team plays at 4 p.m. Monday at Hastings and hosts Ogallala at 2 p.m. and Holdrege at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

McCook competes in the Lexington Invite at 10 p.m. next Thursday.

"Next week poses a tough challenge against some good teams," Wiemers said. "I hope the weather is decent this weekend, so the girls can get in some needed court time to work on their ground strokes."

McCook High School

girls tennis At Ogallala

Thursday, April 6

Varsity Singles:

1 Hannah Putz lost to Pam Miller, 8-2

2 Jen Chmiel def. Catherine Ruhlman, 8-3

3 Melissa Lyster lost to Maggie Abbott, 8-4

4 Angela Lichtenwaldt def. Rachel Allen, 8-2

5 Allyx Shields lost to Shaina McBride, 8-2

6 Amy Lester lost to Emily Huckfeldt, 8-4

Varsity Doubles:

1 Lichtenwaldt-Shields lost to Allen-Ruhlman, 8-5

2 Lyster-Lester lost to Abbott-Huckfeldt, 8-4

3 Putz-Chmiel lost to Miller-McBride, 8-6

JV Doubles:

Jessica Fritsch-Alli Lester def. Stevenson-Twomey, 6-5

Kirstyn Shaffer-Michelle McKenna def. Svoboda-Roche, 6-0

Julie Howard-Hanah Swanhorst def. Allen-Svoboda, 6-4

Courtney Clapp-Christi Burrows def. Connot-Foy, 6-5