Tennis team is ready for BRC tourney

• Senior Morgan Van Allen hits a backhand smash

Senior Morgan Van Allen hits a backhand smash for a point in her 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 1 singles against Rice Lake last Tuesday at the high school. Photo by Bob Burrows
• Senior Casey Fall reaches low to return a volley

Senior Casey Fall reaches low to return a volley in her match with doubles partner Jenny Fassbinder in their 6-1, 6-1 victory over Rice Lake last Tuesday. Photo by Bob Burrows

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The Raider girls’ tennis team picked up a pair of Big Rivers Conference victories last week to set up a showdown with Chippewa Falls this past Tuesday, Sept. 20, for second place in the conference standings on the line.

The Raiders breezed to a 6-1 victory over Rice Lake last Tuesday before pulling out a hard-fought 4-3 win Thursday at Eau Claire North.

“With all the distractions of homecoming week, I was happy to get two conference wins,” Raider coach Dave Dahl said. “I know a lot of the girls were pulled in many different directions during the week, so it was good that the team could hold it together enough to win twice.”

Eau Claire North entered last Thursday’s match at 4-0 in the BRC while the Raiders were 3-1 with their only loss coming at the hands of undefeated Eau Claire Memorial.

Hudson and North split the singles matches, with Morgan Van Allen posting a 7-5, 6-3 win at the No. 1 spot and Kelsie Hines winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 for the Raider points.

Alex Johnson and Bailey Knight earned a 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 2 doubles position before Sydney Squires and Julia Douglas clinched the victory for Hudson with a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 3 doubles.

“Morgan and Kelsie picked up a couple of nice wins in singles and Bailey and Alex looked good at two doubles,” Dahl said. “Sydney and Julia wrapped up the team victory with their close win at three doubles.”

The most competitive match of the day may have been at No. 1 doubles, where Hudson’s Casey Fall and Jenny Fassbinder dropped a touch 3-6, 7-6, 3-6 decision.

“At one doubles, there is a pretty even battle involving four teams for BRC supremacy,” Dahl said. “North played awfully well to get by Casey and Jenny at that spot last Thursday. I look for these two to come back strong in some important matches this week.

Fall and Fassbinder led a Raider sweep of the doubles matches two days earlier against Rice Lake, cruising to a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Johnson and Knight posted a 6-2, 6-2 win at the No. 2 spot while Squires and Douglas won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3.

In singles play, Van Allen earned a 6-2, 6-1 victory at the No. 1 position, and Racheal Knoke won 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2, while Hines rolled 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3.

Following this past Tuesday’s match against Chippewa Falls, the Raiders will visit Hill-Murray for a nonconference match on Wednesday, Sept. 21 before returning to Eau Claire for the Big Rivers Conference Tournament Saturday, Sept. 24, beginning at 10 a.m. at Eau Claire North High School.

Tags: sports, tennis, raiders, prep