URBANA - While the final team score was lopsided shutout, the St. Joseph-Ogden tennis team fought an uphill battle against their more experiened opponents from Maroa-Forsyth on Tuesday, August 15. The Spartans suffered losses on all nine courts, three doubles and six singles matches, to fall 9-0 to the visiting Trojans.
Addison Seggebruch led the SJO's singles match effort, winning seven of her 19 games against Maroa-Forsyth's Katherine Nilles.
Addison Ross talks about her double match with partner Makennah Hamilton after their loss to Kristen Tuan and Katherine Nilles from Maroa-Forsyth. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks
"It was my first match. I thought I did pretty well," Seggebruch said after her match. "Overall, I thought I did a pretty good job hanging in there."
Playing at #2 singles, the senior lost the first set 6-3 and capitalized as often as she could in the second, carding four more games using her serve as a weapon.
"I felt like there were a few serves she (Nilles) wasn't able to return," she explained, talking about exploiting her opponent's obvious weaknesses. "I had a few really good forehands, and I feel like that threw her off a little bit.
Despite dropping the second set, 6-4, Saggebruch, who started playing in 2022, gave a solid effort against her more seasoned opponent. One of her goals this season is to collect more W's.
"This year, my goal is to win more matches, try to improve, and get better," she said.
Later,
MaKennah Hamilton and Addison Ross squared off against the Trojans' top doubles crew. The duo dropped their #1 doubles match in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.
"It didn't go the way we wanted, but we did learn a lot," said Addison Ross, a sophomore playing her second season for SJO. "They were much more experienced than us. They hit harder, but we did learn something from this.
Playing her second year with Ross, Hamilton said despite the two-set shutout against Maroa-Forsyth veterans Kristen Tuan and Katherine Nilles, she believes they are improving.
"I think we hustled more than we have in the past," she explained, recounting a few plays from the match. "They just kept hitting a lot of corners we couldn't get to."
Not long after the loss, the pair had already figured out what the needed to work on this week to prepare upcoming matches. Unfortunately, the heatwave that started on Tuesday this week has kept a lid on training and match play for the Spartans due to heat protocols set by the IHSA.
Ross said her plan was to work on returning serves. "It is kind of my weak spot."
Meanwhile, Hamilton plans to work on her shot selection and placement.
"More experienced teams are going take your shots and hit them down the line, and you can't get to them," she said. "Hitting them where they're not is definitely something we need to work on."
Box Score
Maroa-Forsyth - 9 - St. Joseph-Ogden - 0
Singles:
No. 1 - Ella Sandgren, Maroa-Forsyth def. Caroline Aden, SJO, 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 - Katherine Nilles, Maroa-Forsyth def. Addison Seggebruch, SJO, 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 - Isabella Griffiths, Maroa-Forsyth def. Madison Clampitt, SJO, 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 - Briana Skouras, Maroa-Forsyth def. Lauren Lannert, SJO, 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 - Jasmeet Kaur, Maroa-Forsyth def. Ella Dieteker, SJO, 6-2, 6-0
No. 6 - Hana Qidan, Maroa-Forsyth def. Sonia Patel, SJO, 6-0, 6-2
Doubles:
No. 1 - Kristen Tuan/Katherine Nilles, Maroa-Forsyth def. MaKennah Hamilton/Addison Ross, SJO, 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 - Isabella Nilles/Alexis Nilles, Maroa-Forsyth ef. Lily Rice/Samantha Kelso, SJO, 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 - Aubra Timmons/Shokrea Qidan, Maroa-Forsyth def. Emma Thurman/Olivia Getty, SJO, 6-1, 7-5
