Ralissa Rudolf returns a shot during her No. 4 singles victory over New London Monday.
The Ripon High School Tiger girls tennis team dropped a non-conference match at home to the New London Bulldogs 5-2 on Monday.
One of the Tigers' two wins was Reese Brooks at No. 1 singles. The junior won a tight first set 7-6 (4), before cruising to a 6-0 victory in the second. Ralissa Rudolf recorded the Tigers' other win as the senior defeated her No. 4 singles counterpart 6-3, 6-2.
Ripon was competitive in a number of other matches. Among them was No. 2 doubles, in which the team of Oceana Rank and Allison Taylor fell 5-7, 4-6. Cassidy Sauerbrei also took her No. 2 singles match to a tiebreak in the second set, but lost 6-7 (3). The senior lost her opening set 2-6.
The Tigers also won three games in the opening set of their other two contested matches before falling more steeply in the second set. Hayden Durovy-Meeker lost 3-6, 0-6 at No. 3 singles, while the No. 1 doubles of Layla Hein and Lizzy Weiske succumbed 3-6, 1-6.
Ripon forfeited No. 3 doubles because he didn't have enough varsity players.
Ripon bordered by Plymouth
The Tigers dropped a competitive game to the Plymouth Panthers 4-3 last Thursday.
Two of the six contested matches were decided by a third set tiebreak, with each team winning one.
Prevailing for Ripon were Rudolf and Durovy-Meeker at No. 2 doubles. The two seniors dropped their first set 4-6 before recovering to win their second set 6-4 and the third set tiebreak 10-8.
Not so fortunate for the Tigers were Rank and Taylor at No. 3 doubles. They won the first set 7-6 (4), before losing the second set 3-6 and a tiebreak in the third set 8-10.
The remaining matches were decided in two sets. Winning for Ripon were Brooks at No. 1 singles (6-0, 6-2) and Sauerbrei at No. 3 singles (6-2, 6-1), while Lily Price fell at No. 2 singles (1-6, 3-6 ) and the No. 1 doubles team of Hein and Weiske lost 0-6, 0-6.
Tigers swept by Kohler
Ripon was swept in straight sets last Wednesday by the perennial conference powerhouse Kohler Blue Bombers (5-0 conference, 27-15 overall) in a road dual that was rescheduled from earlier in the season.
Winning the most games in a set for the Tigers in the loss was Price at No. 2 singles. After being eliminated 0-6 in the first set, she managed to drop the second set only 3-6. Brooks and Rudolf also won three games in their matches as Brooks fell 1-6, 2-6 at No. 1 singles and Rudolf dropped her No. 4 singles match 2-6, 1-6.
Durovy-Meeker won two games in her second set at No. 3 singles after being silenced 0-6 in the first set.
Matches 0-6 and 0-6 left out the No. 1 doubles team of Hein and Weiske and the No. 2 duo of Rank and Taylor. Ripon forfeited No. 3 doubles because he didn't have enough varsity players.
Next
Ripon concludes the regular season this week. It hosted Roncalli on Tuesday in a dual that ended after press time and welcomes Fox Valley Lutheran Thursday for a dual that was rescheduled from earlier this season.
The Tigers will then prepare for subsectionals, which will be hosted by Sheboygan Falls on Monday, October 9 and will take place at the Sports Core in Kohler.
Other teams in the competition, which starts at 9 a.m., include Lake Country Lutheran/St. Johns Northwestern Academy, Kewaskum, Kohler, Mayville, Sheboygan Falls, Sheboygan South, St. Marys Springs and Waupun.
Players ranked No. 1 in singles and doubles only need to win one match to advance to sectionals, while players in other positions need to win two matches to advance.
Sectionals will take place on Wednesday, October 11 from 8:00 am in the Sports Core.
