Penn Girls Tennis Kingsmen recently played their rivals, the St. Joe Indians. The Kingsmen unfortunately lost with a final score of 1-4.
Number one varsity doubles, Maren Woelfer and Neely Langfeldt went head to head with St. Joe’s state champion Molly Belia and Dani Graham. With a rocky start, the Lady Kingsmen lost the first set 6-0. As the match went on, the doubles players were able to bring it up to 4-6 still holding their heads up high no matter the defeat.
Playing at number two varsity doubles were Clarissa Shmidtt and Angelina Smith. With a close win, the Indians took the first set 7-5. Next set the Indians once again took the set 6-3.
Shmidtt states, “I think that we could have worked on better consistency during tight points but overall I think our ability to bounce back after tough points really went well.”
From the stands, JV player Brooke Decker says, “I think Angelina and Clarissa both communicated well and had great volleys at the same time I feel that they could work on overheads.”
Both #1 and #2 singles, Aileen Hu and Sophia Pischalko played the Amalanathan sisters, Anni and Ashi. Both matches resulted in a defeat 6-0, 6-1.
At #3 singles, Kingsman Anna Yoon successfully won her match. With a close score, Anna was able to defeat Lily Mayfield in a tiebreaker bringing home a win for Penn.
When asked what contributed to her win, Yoon responded, “I think something that went well was my consistency. A lot of my points were won with my opponent messing up. Although my second set was pretty tough I think I was able to pull through and win the match because I stayed consistent and was mentally smart about where to hit.”
Although the ladies lost, next week the two rivals go head to head again. Kingsmen now know their opponents and play and plan to train hard to redeem themselves.
