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Lady Dogs keep rolling with 3 more wins

by WHITNEY ENGLAND
Whitefish Pilot | April 21, 2021 1:00 AM

The Whitefish girls tennis team knocked out three tough opponents last week, going 3-0 over Libby, Havre and Stevensville.

Against Libby, the Lady Bulldogs head coach Patrick Dryden was impressed with the strength of his team, especially in the singles matches. He said Libby’s strength is in their singles play, and Whitefish’s biggest strength is singles as well, but the Dogs outplayed them that day.

“I was pleasantly surprised, Libby has a veteran team and I think out of the 10 girls in their line up, nine of them are seniors and they’re good,” he said. “We just had a really good day.”

At No. 1 singles, Whitefish senior Gracie Smyley defeated Libby’s Laneigha Zeiler in two sets — 6-2, 6-1. Dryden said she showed her perseverance against a tough opponent.

“Grace Smyley had a great match,” Dryden said. “The girl that she was playing was just getting everything back and Grace showed incredible patience.”

Anyah Cripe at No. 2 singles also preserved through her three-set match against Libby, after dropping the second set she ended up pulling out the win 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Whitefish’s Lauren Brown and Emma Shafer at 3-4 singles also netted victories against Libby.

“I want to highlight Emma Shaffer at four singles (against Libby), she played a very tough opponent that was basically a backboard, just got everything back,” Dryden recalled. “Emma did a great job; it was incredibly windy and she just kept the ball low and hard.”

The Whitefish girls doubles teams are also taking shape, led by Ali Hirsch and Tallory Workman at the No. 1 spot. This week that team lost to Stevensville in two sets, but defeated both Libby and Havre. Dryden says the match against Havre was a good learning experience for the new pair that has only played four matches together.

“The highlight (of Saturday) would have to be the No. 1 doubles of Tallory Workman and Ali Hirsch,” he said. “They had a great match, lost the first set 7-5 and bounced back to win in three sets. That was a good learning experience — that you can have a kind of demoralizing first set, you’ve got to get it turned around.”

Whitefish’s 2-3 doubles teams secured four more wins for the Lady Bulldogs over the week, with only one loss to Stevensville by the way of a forfeit.

On Saturday, Smyley at No. 1 singles had another two-set win over Stevensville and won by forfeit over Havre. The rest of the girls singles — Cripe, Brown, Shafer, and Emma Trieweiler and Stacia Tremper alternating at No. 4 singles — all recorded wins over Havre and Stevensville on Saturday.

“I don’t think we’ve ever beaten Havre in a dual match, I think we were 0-6,” Dryden recalled. “They’ve got a very young team, but it was nice to beat probably the strongest team from the northeast division.”

Whitefish was set to play Ronan and Polson on Tuesday after press time, Flathead on Friday and a tournament in Libby Saturday.

Whitefish 7, Libby 0

Singles

Gracie Smyley (WF) def. Laneigha Zeiler 6-2, 6-1. Anyah Cripe (WF) def. Elise Erickson 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Lauren Brown (WF) def. Gabby Fantozzi 6-2, 6-0. Emma Shafer (WF) def. Sally Weber 10-6.

Doubles

Ali Hirsch/Tallory Workman (WF) def. Jessica Cunningham/Ivy Pierce 7-5, 6-2. Emma Trieweiler/Addie Oehlerich (WF) def. Macey Halvorson/Bella Covington 6-0, 6-1.

Whitefish 5, Stevensville 2

Singles

Gracie Smyley, Whitefish, d. Maddie Weber 6-0, 6-1; Lauren Brown, Whitefish, d. Olivia Peretto 6-4, 6-2; Anyah Cripe, Whitefish, d. Aliyah Anderson 6-4, 6-1; Emma Trieweiler, Whitefish, d. Dani Felton 6-0, 6-3.

Doubles

Mackaela Hawthorne/Crystal St. Germain, Stevi, d. Ali Hirsch/Tallory Workman 6-0, 6-3; Whitefish lost by forfeit; Stacie Tremper/Zoe Tremper, Whitefish, d. Barbara Drzkovicova/ Chloe Milsten 6-2, 6-3.

Whitefish 7, Havre 0

Singles

Gracie Smyley, Whitefish, won by forfeit; Lauren Brown, Whitefish, d. Raina Johnson, 6-1, 6-0; Emma Shaffer, Whitefish, d. Kat Kaftan, 6-2, 6-0; Stacia Tremper, Whitefish, d. Myley Shennum 6-0, 6-0.

Doubles

Ali Hirsch/Tallory Workman, Whitefish, d. Talia Ralph/grace Krentz 5-7, 6-2, 7-5; Emma Triewieler/Anyah Cripe, Whitefish, d. Destiny Hermandez/McKenzie Mangold 6-1, 6-1; Addie Oehlerich/Alivia Lusko, Whitefish, d. Courtney Burchund/Chloe Bricker 6-3, 6-3.

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Lady Bulldog Anyah Cripe plays in a doubles match with partner Emma Trieweiler against Havre on Saturday at FVCC. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)

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Whitefish sophomore Tallory Workman plays in the No. 1 girls doubles match with teammate Ali Hirsch against Havre on Saturday at FVCC. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)

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