HILTON HEAD, S.C. -- The Ripon College men's and women's tennis team began their spring break campaign this Sunday, Mar 15, against Stevenson University. The women claimed the 6-1 victory to start the trip, while the men fell 0-7 against the Mustangs.
The women's match opened in comfortable fashion at the two and three doubles spots for the Red Hawks, with senior duo
Catherine Skoglund (Roberts, Wis., St. Croix Central HS) and
Allison Pavlovec (Decorah, Iowa, Decorah HS) taking the 6-0 win at two, while
Isabella DeMeuse (Hartford, Wis., Hartford Union HS) and
Hailey Sponholz (Milwaukee, Wis., Greenfield HS) earned the same scoreline at three to capture the doubles point. One doubles tandem
Allison Larsen (Lodi, Wis., Lodi HS) and
Jessi Griepentrog (Freedom, Wis., Fox Valley Lutheran HS) would mount a considerable comeback after trailing by a break in the first, but come up just short of the sweep with a 5-7 result.
Singles saw Ripon again clean up at the lower flights, with Skoglund, Pavlovec,
Isabella Engstrom (Ripon, Wis., Ripon HS) and
Ella Clark (Columbus, Wis., Columbus HS) earning straight set wins at the three through six spots. The most impressive singles result of the day fell to Greipentrog, however, for a three-set battle at two singles. Trailing 6-1 after the first, Griepentrog wore down her opponents and converted shots when it mattered most, taking the second set 7-6(5) before earning a 10-6 victory in the super, helping give the Ripon women their 6th win of the year.
On the men's side, despite a 0-7 result, the Red Hawks saw a host of close matches. Opening with a 5-7 thriller at three doubles, with freshman
Brandon Yanez (Ripon, Wis., Ripon HS) converting forehands and volleys to keep his team steady with the opposition until the very end, Ripon entered singles down the doubles point. At the top flight, senior
Caleb Sippel's (Appleton, Wis., Appleton North HS) contest would come to just a break a set, falling to the Mustangs 4-6 5-7 in a physical bout.
The Red Hawks saw their best men's match of the day at four singles, with
Ryan Richter (Plainfield, Ill., Plainfield Central HS) battling through two tiebreaks in the longest match of the day. Converting serve +1 opportunities and backhands down the line, Ritcher took the first set 8-6 in the tiebreak, before dropping the second 5-7 by a late break. The match would come down to just a handful of points going the other way in the super tiebreak, and Stevenson would claim the last match of the day 10-6 in the third.
Ripon tennis continues their Spring Break matches this Monday, Mar 16, against St. Mary's College of Maryland.
