Not-so-plain Jane

ST. IGNATIUS - Much like her signature reflective sunglasses,

Jane Makepeace is about as cool as they come.

ST. IGNATIUS - Much like her signature reflective sunglasses, Jane Makepeace is about as cool as they come.

"Jane absolutely has a calm, methodical approach to her matches," Mission girls tennis coach Sara Ison said. "Whether she is up or down, you really can't tell just by looking at her."

Makepeace finished second in last weekend's Western B/C Divisional tournament in St. Ignatius, winning three matches before falling to Bigfork's No. 1 seed, Mckinze Schults, in the championship match.

"In years past her calm approach was also coupled with timidity but this year, she is still calm, but she is much more competitive and taking more risks and starts out strong so that she doesn't have to fight it out in three sets," Ison said.

One of Makepeace's best moments happened in the semi-final match when she was up 5-1 in the second set and on the cusp of advancing to the championship.

"It is both exciting but mentally a scary place to be because there's that fear of ‘what if I can't close it out and she comes back?'" Ison said. "Which is what started to happen when [Bigfork's No. 2 seeded Ariel Stallknecht] came back to make it 5-4."

Ison pulled Makepeace aside and said that Stalknecht was getting a second wind and the match needed to be iced before the momentum changed.

"Jane just calmly went out and iced it 40-love," Ison said. "I think there is so much more to be had out of her, which is great knowing she hasn't peaked yet."

Adding to the difficulty factor for Makepeace, and the rest of the Lady Bulldogs for divisionals, was an ungodly wind which affected play.

"It was just absolutely ridiculous," Ison said. "Instead of good, solid tennis, it really just came down to who could keep the ball in and who knew how to use the wind to their advantage."

Luckily for Mission, they were the kind of team that knew how to do that. Sarah Bowers took third place at the tournament with four wins and just one loss, which happened to be against the divisional champion, Schults, in "Sarah definitely knew how to use the wind and her opponents didn't," Ison said. "I still think she would have won had there been no wind but still it's nice that it made it a little easier for her."

Mission's No. 1 tennis player was strong throughout the tournament and rolled through the brackets before meeting Schults.

"Sarah is just exciting to watch," Ison said. "I love watching her shut her opponents out at the net."

Ison added that much like Makepeace, Bowers has yet to reach her potential and had a very good chance of making the divisional championship.

"She played Mckinze so well, she definitely made McKinze earn her win, she didn't just give it to her," Ison said.

Mission finished second behind Bigfork in the team standings, a good showing for the home-standing Lady Bulldogs. However, Ison said that she would have liked to see more of her girls qualify for state and thought that some early round exits were the only thing separating the first and secondplace teams. Mission also saw some inspired

play from their No. 1 doubles team in Sydney Allard and Ashley Courville.

"They still played great and I'm looking forward to next year with them. I just love both those girls, they are so fun and I will really miss them this week," Ison said.

BOYS

MISSOULA - Mission was all over the boy's Best of the West tournament last Saturday in Missoula. Spencer Ahlborn took home the No. 1-2 singles title with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Valley Christian's Josiah Peterson in the championship match.

"Josiah is a good player and made Spencer play, so that was good for him to have to work for it," Mission boys' tennis head coach Kimimi Ashley said.

It also capped off a perfect regular season for the defending B/C singles state champion.

"Spencer went 9-0 on the regular season, and he won the two tournaments he was in," Ashley said. "I think that is the first time it has happened during the years that I have been coaching in St. Ignatius. His last game against Loyola's Jonothan Finch was 6-0, 6-0 so that was a fitting way for him to end the regular season play."

Kyle Schock took home fifth in the same division of the Best of the West tournament, going 2-1. In the No. 3 and 4 singles division, Mauro Grosso took third place behind a 2-1 record and Bryan Schock also finished with the same record and placed fifth.

In the doubles part of the tournament, Trail Bundy and Karl Daniels took fifth place in their No. 1 and 2 doubles division, also going 2-1.

"They play very well together but I don't think they have hit a moment where they are both on the top of their game for the day," Ashley said. "I also think this is a normal thing for doubles players, and when that happens, your partner needs to step it up and take over to get some points and get the other player back in the game."

No. 3 doubles team, Chris Camel and Brando Conko went 2-1 in the No. 3 and 4 doubles bracket and placed second in the tournament after taking the championship match to a third set before falling 6-1, 2-6, 4-10.

The boys also faced Loyola Sacred Heart last Tuesday, May 10 and tied them 3-3.

"I wasn't too upset that we tied Loyola instead of beating them because neither one of us had our regular line-up," Ashley said. "I was missing my No. 4 singles and also one of my No. 2 doubles players due to school functions. Loyola had mixed up their kids and so overall it was a good chance for everyone to get to play."

Bryan Schock picked up a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Loyola's Maelan Arciello, while the No. 1 doubles team of Bundy and Daniels downed Josh Gilligam and Travis Haller, 6-1, 6-3.

Mission Boys 3, Loyola Sacred Heart 3

Singles - Spencer Ahlborn, Mission, def. Jonathan Finch, 6-0, 6-0; Paul Heffernan, Loyola, def. Kyle Schock, 6-0, 6-1; Bryan Schock, Mission, def. Maelan Arciello, 6-4, 7-5; Tobin Blome, Loyola, def. Chris Camel, 6-2, 6-0.

Doubles - Trail Bundy/Karl Daniels, Mission, def. Josh Gilligam/Travis Haller, 6-1, 6-3; Teddy Muth/

Zack Burke, Loyola, def. Katz Yelsa/Rune Grumsen, 6-3, 6-0.

Western B/C Girls Tennis Divisionals

Team scores - Bigfork 52, St. Ignatius 25, Troy 24, Eureka 15. Singles final - McKinze Shults, B, def. Jane Makepeace, SI, 6-1, 6-3. Consolation final - Sarah Bowers, SI, def. Ariel Stallknecht, B, 6-1, 6-2.