Doubles struggle,
Heyen loses a chance
for 1st in two tiebreakers

By OLIVER GOOD

Staff writer

Senior Allison Weber crushed her competition to take first place in the Trojan Invitational tennis tournament Thursday in Hillsboro.

Only losing one game early on, coach Bob Woelk said Weber played her best match of the year to defeat McKenzie Thrasher, a solid player from Sterling.

“Allison dismantled Thrasher with some of her best hitting this season,” he said. “She was aggressive and accurate. I think it was the shortest match in terms of time on the court of her career. She really took care of business.”

Woelk said senior Claire Heyen had a “heartbreaking day.”

Down 7-2 in her first match against a Hutchinson Trinity opponent, she came back to tie at 7-7, and then lost her tiebreaker 10-8.

In Heyen’s second match, she had a serve broken early by an opponent from Circle, then broke back late to take a 7-6 lead. Her opponent held Heyen’s serve in the final game to force another tiebreaker that Heyen lost 7-2.

“She dropped from a chance to play for first to a fifth place finish by virtue of two tiebreakers,” Woelk said. “On the positive side, she battled all day.”

Woelk said Heyen continues to improve and only needs to eliminate a few unforced errors and start winning “big points” to become a factor by regionals.

Hillsboro had three doubles teams playing because Sterling only brought one doubles pair.

In number 1 doubles pool play, Allision Gray and Madison Klein placed fifth. In number 2 doubles pool play, Mary Leihy and Darcy Hienrichs placed fourth, while Anna Glanzer and Hannah Funk came in fourth place.

Woelk said he will continue to search for the strongest doubles pairings, but he doesn’t know if the teams’ lineup will be solidly set going into league and regional play.