By Jacob Heid
Sports Editor
STEVENS POINT – The SPASH girls’ tennis team kicked off the 2023 season by hosting a quadrangular at the SPASH tennis courts on Aug. 16.
Things looked good early on for the Panthers, beating De Pere 5-2 in the first team match of the morning.
Later, the Panthers would drop the next two matches, 2-5 to Waunakee and 3-4 to Onalaska, to finish 1-2 in the first official tournament of the season.
Multiple singles and doubles matches vs. De Pere got out to quick leads and never looked back.
SPASH’s Lily Meeks, the No. 2 singles player, edged out her opponent in three sets, 6-1, 1-6, 10-5.
Isabella Williams and Kayla Peterman gained two more points at the No. 3 and No. 4 singles spot, each winning in two sets.
Williams won 6-2, 6-4, while Peterman swept her opponent 7-6 (4), 6-4.
In doubles play, SPASH got the best of De Pere as well.
The final two points came from the No. 1 and 2 doubles teams.
Addison Jandrain and Rylan Woytasik breezed through their No. 1 doubles match, 6-3, 6-3.
A closer No. 2 doubles match ended with the Panthers being victorious.
The duo of Annika Borgnes and Sophia Brandt pulled out a 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory.
Coming off a victory, SPASH fell in the next two matches while shifting some players around.
Meeks moved to No. 1 singles against Waunakee and fell 6-0, 6-0.
Williams got the lone singles point for SPASH at No. 2 singles. After falling in the first set, she bounced back to take the following two to claim victory.
The other point for SPASH came from the No. 2 doubles match.
Borgnes got paired with Mali Palmer in this match, taking a 6-3, 6-3 victory for a second point.
A battle with Onalaska came down to a point between the two teams.
The singles matches didn’t go as planned for SPASH, gaining just one point out of four.
Meeks got her second solo win of the day by winning in two sets, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 2 singles.
Jandrain and Woytasik got paired together again at No. 1 doubles and won another match. They cruised to victory in two sets, 6-4, 6-3.
In a tight points battle, a third and final point came from Borgnes and Williams at No. 2 doubles.
The Panthers’ next match comes in Eau Claire on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 18-19, with a handful of teams set to compete.
