Ahlborn Repeats
<p>St. Ignatius High School's number one player Briar Ahlborn returns a forehand during her first set of the championship match of the 2014 West B-C girls Divisional Tennis Tournament at Ronan High School Saturday. (photo by Lourie Zipf)</p>
RONAN — St. Ignatius High School senior Briar Ahlborn repeated her 2013 singles title by easily winning this year’s West B-C Divsional tennis championshp Saturday at Ronan High School.
Ahlborn defeated Lana Berg, of Bigfork, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the state tournament, which begins Friday in Missoula.
“Throughout the year, my matches have always been close with Lana. However, on Saturday, I felt confident and knew I could win,” Ahlborn said.
Ahlborn attributed part of Saturday’s win to the steadiness and accuracy of her backhand.
“This year, my backhand was much stronger, and I’m hitting with a lot more spin than I have in the past,” she said. “Briar played great,” said St. Ignatius coach Sara Ison. “She had a great tournament and beat her opponents soundly. I’m looking forward to see how she does at state. Overall, I’m really pleased with how everyone on the team did this year.”
Ahlborn will attend the University of Montana in the fall, but currently has no plans to go out for the women’s tennis team. “I still plan to keep playing and will keep my game fresh,” she said.
Ahlborn and teammates Daisie VandenBos and Kayla Billette qualified for this weekend’s B-C state tournament, as did Ronan’s doubles team of Hannah Bird Rattler and Hannah Kiehn.
West B-C Girls’ Divisional
Friday, Saturday at Ronan Team scores Bigfork 58, St. Ignatius 38, Troy 29, Ronan 19, Eureka 13.
Singles First round Alex Hider, B, def. Jocelyn Frasier, E. Second round Briar Ahlborn, SI, def. Kasey Faur, T; Genevieve Gibson, B, def. Samantha Ashley, R; Kalia Wicklund, B, def. Cierra Dougherty, SI; Kathryn Stein, E, def. Allie Brown, T; Lana Berg, B, def. Julia Matkovich, R; Daisie VandenBos, SI, def. Azure Stever, T; Shannon Saint, R, def. Kaylee Stecher, T; Kayla Billette, SI, def. Hider. Quarterfinals Ahlborn def. Gibson; Stein def. Wicklund; Berg def. VandenBos; Billette def. Saint. Semifinals Ahlborn, SI, def. Stein, E; Berg, B, def. Billette, SI. Final Ahlborn def. Berg. Consolation semifinals Stein def. Daisie VandenBos, SI; Billette def. Genevieve Gibson, B. Consolation final Stein def. Billette. Doubles First round Samantha Friedlander/Breanna Turpin, R, def. Lacey Marquardt/Tkaya Byrd-Ennis, E; Megan Hight/Taylor Brown, T, def. Lina Koethke/Julia Gisell, SI. Quarterfinals Katie/Kellie Lindin, T, def. Friedlander/Turpin; Kayla Casalegno/Alauna Weilacher, B, def. Hannah Vaughan/Allie Kosherbek, SI; Hannah Bird Rattler/Hannah Kiehn, R, def. Haley Dorman/Josey Smith, E; Alanis Stallknecht/Brooke Bonner, B, def. Hight/Brown. Semifinals Katie/Kellie Lundin, T, def. Kayla Casalegno/Alauna Weilacher, B; Alanis Stallknecht/Brooke Bonner, B, def. Hannah Bird Rattler/Hannah Kiehn, R. Final Lundin/Lundin def. Stallknecht/Bonner. Consolation final Casalegno/Weilacher def. Bird Rattler/Kiehn.