The Reeths-Puffer girls tennis team might have had its best overall performance of the season on Friday, winning 15 out of 24 total matches against very tough competition and finishing a surprising second place at the O-K Green conference tournament.
The Rockets and Mona Shores, which took first place, upset the pecking order at the tournament. Zeeland East and Holland tied for first place in the regular season conference standings, but finished third and fourth, respectively.
Reeths-Puffer posted very nice 2-1 records in seven of the eight flights.
At No. 1 singles, Brooke Titus defeat Wyoming’s Alexis Moras 6-0, 6-0 and Mona Shores’ Samantha Simonelli 6-2, 6-0 before falling to Holland’s Libby LeFebre.
R-P's Molly Matz
Olivia Harris (No. 2 singles), Mylie Neel (No. 3 singles) and Molly Matz (No. 4 singles) all won two of their three matches.
Matz came very close to being undefeated, splitting her first two sets against Zeeland West’s Sydney Ojedis-Leiva before losing the third and final set in a very tight 7-6 tiebreaker.
In doubles, Whitney Dulyea and Emma Fraser (No. 2), Malania Eilers and Gabrielle Borgeson (No. 3) and Hope Latsch and Olivia Smith (No.4) all won two of three matches.
“All day long multiple coaches approached and commended me about the day our girls were having,” said Reeths-Puffer Coach Ryan Hankinson. “More importantly, so many opponents told our players how much better they have gotten throughout the season.
R-P's Gabrielle Borgeson and Malania Eilers.
“The improvement our young team made will make us even more feared heading into next season.”
The Rockets now head into a busy week, with dual matches against Grant on Tuesday and Ludington on Wednesday before competing in regionals on Thursday.
