“Of course there is that sense of strong competition there, but I do know a lot of the people of the Hickman team and they’re all so sweet and nice,” junior Tess Lovig said. “It’s always a good experience and brings out the best in me.”
Many smiles and hugs were exchanged between the teams and the vibe on the court portrayed a more relaxed and calm environment.
The Bruins showed great discipline in Doubles play, with each pair winning handily. The duo of Senior Phoebe Boeschen and Lovig performed outstandingly against two of the Kewpies best players in senior Sydney Attebery and junior Jeani Stannard winning 6-0, 6-1. Boeschen looked particularly superb after having a minor foot surgery this past August and provided essential contributions with her rapid serves.
The Bruins continued their success in singles play winning all six matches. The team received key contributions from freshmen Katherine Dudley, who won 6-4, 6-3 and Faith Wright who had an outstanding performance with a tally of 6-0, 6-0. The two underclassmen make up one third of the varsity team and look to continue their winning ways as the season progresses.
Head Coach Ben Loeb, widely thought of as one of the best tennis minds in Missouri, had high praise for his team after the win. “I thought our team played ‘smart-aggressive’ as a group,” Loeb said. “We played aggressively, but still within ourselves and gave a great performance tonight.”
Juniors Ronni Farid and Hannah Pohl rounded out the team with great wins in both their Doubles match 6-0, 6-3 and snatched victories in their singles matches.
Although the Bruins maintained steady control, Lovig sees the team becoming complacent at times and not playing with the fire and strength necessary.
“I feel like when we’re winning by a lot we don’t have that much enthusiasm, and we stop playing with all of our energy and we begin to slow down the pace.”
Loeb also sees weakness, but rather in the squad’s doubles play.
“I don’t think in general high school teams spend enough time on doubles,” said Loeb. “I want us to, even though we played well tonight, continue to work on that and get better in that area.”
The team looks to protect their undefeated record heading into matches against both Jeff City and Battle, and look to turn a few heads at the upcoming Columbia Tournament beginning on Sept. 20. The tournament boasts a number of great teams including powerhouse Lee’s Summit North and is on the top of Loeb and the team’s minds.
You can watch the team continue their season at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Bethel Park against Jefferson City.
By: John Flanegin
Keerthivaas Premkumar • Nov 7, 2014 at 11:16 am
This article was very interesting for me to read especially because it was between two local high schools in the same district, and the specific scores and details made it even better, so I loved this story.