VanPelt twins, Packers tack on experience in loss to Stewartville

Published 8:56 pm Monday, September 13, 2021

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The Austin girls tennis team continued to garner experience as it lost to Stewartville 4-3 in Paulson Tennis Courts Monday.

Austin’s No. 2 doubles team features two first year varsity players who are very familiar with each other. The twin sister team of sophomores Abby VanPelt and Katie VanPelt may have lost in two sets, but they didn’t lose the lesson.

The twin sisters also play softball together for the Packers. There are times when they get on each others’ nerves, but they don’t bring their losses home with them.

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“We get over it when we get home and then we’re ready for the next one,” Abby said. “It’s a bit of a process. We’ve had a lot of people come up to varsity this year and everyone’s working really hard.”

Austin (2-5 overall) has a lot of new varsity players in the lineup this season and the VanPelt’s are amongst those who are starting to catch up to speed. They kept things positive in Tuesday’s loss, sharing laughs and working hard.

“We bring each other up and if one of us misses a shot, we tell each other it’s all right. The second you stop going, is the second you start losing points,” Katie said. “It’s definitely been an adjustment. It’s a whole new level of competitiveness and it’s my second year of playing. It’s brought my level up and it allows you to work harder during practice.”

The Austin No. 3 doubles team of Aunica Groh and Vida Curtis scored their first varsity win and Kaitlin Meiergerd came back to win a third set to take the No. 2 singles match.

Austin was celebrating senior night during the match as well.

“Kaitlin Meiergerd played a heck of a match tonight. She was able to hang around in the match and find a way to pull it out,” Austin head coach Jeff Anderson said. “We also want to thank our seniors for all their leadership and what they have brought to our team over the past four plus years.”

Stewartville 4, Austin 3 

Singles

No. 1 Chloe Regal (S) def. Gracie Schmitt (A) 6-0 , 6-0

No. 2 Kaitlin Meiergerd (A) def. Grace Miller (S) 1-6 , 6-4 , 6-2 

No. 3 Riley Hetzel (A) def. Maren Honsey (S) 6-1 , 6-7 (8), 10-7 

No. 4 Amelia Griffin (S) def. Jenna Hetzel (A) 6-2 , 6-0 

Doubles

No. 1 Addison Manley/Katrina McCluskey (S) def. Samantha Krueger/Emma Haugen (A) 6-3 , 6-0 

No. 2 Malena Krapf/Rachel Boe (S) def. Abby VanPelt/Katie VanPelt (A) 6-3 , 6-1 

No. 3 Aunica Groh/Vida Curtis (A) def. Emma Manley/Grace Elton (S) 6-1 , 6-4