Girls tennis stacked at doubles

The Lady Dogs tennis team has the weapons and experience to make some noise in the state level with a good group returning to the court.

“Expectations are going to be higher this year,” Whitefish coach Pat Dryden said of his strong roster. “We have the potential to do something at state.”

Coming back are doubles teams Anna Peterson and Katie Fyall, and Heather Luedke and Hannah Medsen. Both teams earned a state berth last year. Cailyn Ross also is returning after earning a trip to state and playing as an alternate.

The group of girls should anchor the Lady Dogs’ roster.

“Heather and Hannah worked hard this winter,” Dryden said. “Anna and Katie have been taking some private lessons and look sharp.”

It’s the strongest Whitefish has been at doubles in years, Dryden said, “without question.”

“We can put three really good doubles teams on the court,” he said.

On the singles side, Page Sproul is looking like a top contender, along with Holly Hileman, Jessica McCoy and Savannah Krause. Two foreign exchange students in Janette Kolarzik and Lili Szundy could add to the depth, as well.

In all, 30 girls came out for the team, including five seniors and six juniors.

As usual, Polson will be a force in the Northwest A. Stevensville is a newcomer to the league after Libby dropped to Class B.

While Dryden says he doesn’t put much stock in chasing a divisional title, he does want to get as many girls qualified for state as possible to make a run at some hardware.

“We’ve got to be a top-5 team at state,” he said. “If we can work our way into a trophy, that’d be even better.”

The Lady Dogs open the season April 9 at Polson with matches against the Lady Pirates and Dillon.