Tied up, 4-4. The girls’ tennis team is playing at Carrboro. The fate of the match comes down to doubles team senior Danielle Vanderlelie and sophomore Emma Goodrich. They’re up 7-6 in their match. Carrboro, which doesn’t have lights on its tennis courts, had to postpone the match to the next day. Vanderlelie and Goodrich went to Carrboro, played five points, won 10-8, giving Northwood the 5-4 victory.
It was the first of two wins over top five opponents, and the eighth-ranked Chargers finished the season 12-5, with an 11-3 conference record.
Still, despite climbing as high as No. 5 in the state, Northwood failed to make the playoffs. The Chargers finished third in a strong conference, and missed a wild card spot, which is determined by winning percentage in the East.
“[I] was very disappointed; they worked very hard,” said tennis coach Joseph Kiertekles.
Junior Hannah Holloway was also upset by the narrow miss.
“ I was really sad,” she said. “I think we could have done it; we were so close.”
Team success can be partially attributed to role models like Holloway.
“Even when we are probably going to lose, [Holloway] is just always positive,” said sophomore Elise Crawford.
Most players see Holloway, the team’s No. 1 singles player, as their predominant team role model and say she has a strong influence on the team’s overall ability.
“She’s always out there giving her best effort,” Kiertekles said.
The team defeated eventual conference champ Cedar Ridge Sept. 24. To celebrate, Kiertekles bought all of the girls biscuits the morning after and has bought the team doughnuts in the past. Kiertekles believes it is good to set goals for the team and have rewards for doing well and that it helps keep the players motivated and focused during practice.
Northwood also beat Jordan Matthews in the beginning of the season, though the two teams are in different conferences.
“That was the first time anyone can remember beating Jordan Matthews in tennis,” said Crawford of the J.M. win.
Kiertekles believes having big wins over strong teams like Jordan Matthews and Cedar Ridge and rewarding players, boosts their confidence in themselves and their drive to do better goes up.
“We hadn’t beaten them in a very long time, so it was very exciting,” said Kiertekles.
The team went to the conference tournament Oct. 12, and the doubles team of Crawford and Carmen Reichle will be moving on to regionals.
“Carmen and Elise worked very hard for this,” sophomore Emma Caison said. “We are all very proud of them.”
— By Ryan Millis