Albert Lea tennis girls fall 6-1 at JM

Staff

Published Wednesday, September 29, 2004

ROCHESTER - The second trip to Rochester in two days was much like the first for the Albert Lea High School girls' tennis team.

The Tigers lost 6-1 at John Marshall Tuesday, a day after falling 7-0 at Mayo.

"We picked it up a little bit tonight and saw some pretty good efforts," said coach Sean Gillam.

The win was at No. 1 doubles, where Elizabeth Thompson and Cara Thorn won a pair of tiebreakers 7-1, 9-7.

"That was a big win," said Gillam.

The Hendrickson sisters, sophomore Hali and freshman Niki, teamed for the first time at No. 2 doubles and dropped a three-setter, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Another first-time doubles duo, Amanda Leonard and Brie Bangert, lost 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3.

The Tigers lost all four singles matches in straight sets. The scores: No. 1, Danielle Jacobs, 6-2, 6-1; No. 2, Kate Schreiber, 6-0, 6-0; No. 3, Nicole Greibrok, 6-0, 6-0; No. 4, Laura Hibbard, 6-0, 6-1.

"JM played pretty well," said Gillam. "They have experience at a lot of positions and they're very well coached."

The Tigers had four junior varsity victories, by Vanessa Lee at singles and the doubles teams of

Antonia Kolaas and Danielle Merfeld, Chelsey Hill and Naomi Holt, and Alicia Heilmann and Ellen Helgerson.

Gillam plans to send his JV squad to Rochester Century for Thursday's final Big Nine dual meet.

The varsity returns to Rochester Saturday for the conference tournament.

"On a lot of levels, the season has been good in some ways," said Gillam. "We've made progress in areas but regressed in others. A lot of it is just being young, but it's also clear we need to play more in the summer."

The Tigers ran their season record to 2-11 in dual meets.

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