Mission netters earn tie

ST. IGNATIUS - A gorgeous sunshiny spring day set the stage for ties for the boys' and girls' St. Ignatius tennis teams on Monday. The warm April day may have almost been too much for the players, as they reminisced on it snowing during their matches only two weeks ago.

"I'm going to have to get used to the warmer weather," sophomore Sarah Bowers said.

The Bulldogs used that solar energy to help their play on the court, as both teams tied Valley Christian 3-3.

The singles matches proved to be the forte of both the girls' and boys' teams as the two squads combined to win six of eight total singles matches. The girls got wins from the No. 1 and 2 spots, as sophomores Sarah Bowers and Jane Makepeace both won their respective matches. Bowers came up with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 victory, while Makepeace, recovering from an ankle injury, returned with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win of her own. Makepeace was happy to get a win in her second match of the season."

"It was really nice, especially to be able to win after that," she said. "I just have to keep high energy the whole game and not let myself get down when I'm behind."

The singles No. 1, 3 and 4 boys earned wins as well, showing grit and determination in their matches. Junior Wes Nowlan persevered to win his match 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, despite losing the opening set. Junior Spencer Ahlborn led the way for the boys from the No. 1 slot, taking down his opponent 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, but he noted there are some things to improve.

"I think I'll have to work on placement shots in the deep corners, but my accuracy was pretty good," Ahlborn said. "I think I'm improving pretty good. I can't wait to see what happens at the end of the season.

Last Thursday, the girls' tennis team ran into tough competition, but showed signs of development, according to head coach Kimimi Ashley.

"Individually the girls did well," she said, "Team wise, we got beat 1-5."

The 1-5 loss came in Darby at the hands of the home team. The lone win came from senior Jenny Dillard, who pulled out a thrilling straight set win from the No. 4 singles spot, 7-5, 6-2.

"Jenny Dillard had a fine day out on the tennis courts bringing home St. Ignatius' only win of the day," Ashley said. "She was down the first set 1-5 and she came back and won 7-5 and then 6-0. Jenny was a little tense in the beginning of the match and making too many unforced errors, but with a little pep talk from Assistant Coach [Sara] Ison she got herself pumped up and made a big turnaround in the match coming back to win the first set and roll on the second. We have been having lots of mental toughness talks with the players and it was nice to see that Jenny showed a perfect example of this in her match."

Though St. Ignatius didn't earn the win at the No. 1 singles spot, Ashley was immensely impressed with the play of sophomore Sarah Bowers, who won the first set 6-4 before losing the last two each by a score of 3-6.

"Sarah Bowers had a great match," Ashley said. "Darby's No. 1 singles was a senior and a foreign exchange student and it was such an incredible match to watch. Every point was long, and we're not talking long because they were moon balling and playing safe. It was long because both girls were hitting side-to-side and coming up to the net and both were playing great offense and great defense. They were so exhausted by the third set but neither was ready to back down. They got tied 3-3 in the third set and then Darby's player caught her second wind. We are very proud of Sarah and so tickled that she is only a sophomore. A little bit more technique on her volleys and Sarah would have come out on top in this tough match."

The girls' team played in Superior Tuesday but scores were unavailable before press time. Both teams play Cut Bank Friday at home before heading to Bigfork Saturday for a five-team tournament.