Hi WO Tennis Family, Tuesday's match with Byron Center was a memorable one...for two reasons... First off, it was Senior Night. We have three incredible Seniors on this year's team: Kallyn Gaul, Lovelle Kim, and Maggie Rothstein. Each have played on varsity for at least 3 years. Each have won tons of matches for West Ottawa tennis. And all three young women have left a strong mark on each player and coach in our program with their kindness, fun attitudes, big hearts, and great competitive spirit. We are a competitive group, and events like this are great reminders that above all, tennis is about sharing part of our lives with each other. I've been privileged to share so many memories with Kallyn, Lovelle, and Maggie, and we all love them so much in so many different ways. The second reason this was a memorable match was because of the new dynamics with Bryon Center's program. They are a growing district, and this year for the first time, they have been moved up to Division 1 with us. Not only that, but they have been placed in our Region. From now on, to win a regional title, part of that equation means needing to beat Byron Center. Of course, this is only interesting if Byron Center is very strong. Well, it turns out, Byron Center IS very strong. Our top competitor in the Region has been Rockford for many years now. A couple weeks ago, Byron Center tied Rockford in a duel. So in a sense, we now have two Rockford's in the region...they both even wear orange as their color:) It was clear this was going to be a battle. And it did end up being a battle. Singles was an area of strength for us yesterday, with our four girls each winning their matches in straight sets. In fact, we yielded just 12 total games between the 4 singles flights. This was particularly impressive, because Byron Center's singles players were talented and very athletic. But the real battle was in the doubles. West Ottawa prevailed at 2 and 5 doubles, with Byron Center edging us out at 1, 3, and 4 doubles. You'll see from the scoreline below that the play was as competitive as it could have been, with three of the matches going 3 sets, and with each team winning one of the matches in straight sets. Like with the singles, the overall athleticism of Byron Centers doubles girls was particularly impressive. Because we have a year round strength and conditioning coach for tennis team, it's rare for any school to match us in physicality. Byron Center is one of the few teams we've played that matched us in that area. We won the match 6-3, which is a huge testament to the talent and grit of our girls. This match was tough and our girls came through on Senior Night in a big way. Very proud of them. Seniors, thanks for another great day together on the courts. And to the whole team, thanks for fighting hard to deliver them a hard fought win. Below are complete match results. Holland West Ottawa - 6, Byron Center - 3, Singles: No. 1 - Evie Price, Holland West Ottawa def. Angela He, Byron Center, 6-0 , 6-0 No. 2 - Isabella Gitler, Holland West Ottawa def. Mallory Johnson, Byron Center, 6-3 , 6-1 No. 3 - Sydney Shafer, Holland West Ottawa def. Kristina Ha, Byron Center, 6-2 , 7-5 No. 4 - Maggie Rothstein, Holland West Ottawa def. Rylie Hull, Byron Center, 6-0 , 6-1 Doubles: No. 1 - Natalie Rutgers, Byron Center - Sharon Okoh, Byron Center def. Kallyn Gaul, Holland West Ottawa - Lovelle Kim, Holland West Ottawa, 6-4 , 6-2 No. 2 - Hope Hughes, Holland West Ottawa - Haylee Geerlings, Holland West Ottawa def. Syd DeVos, Byron Center - Jillian Vanderhorst, Byron Center, 6-3 , 3-6 , 6-3 No. 3 - Saraiah Okoh, Byron Center - Avery Hustak, Byron Center def. Audrey Anderson, Holland West Ottawa - Olivia Smith, Holland West Ottawa, 7-6 , 4-6 , 6-4 No. 4 - Heather Kuipers, Byron Center - Fiona Vu, Byron Center def. Mallory Paff, Holland West Ottawa - Hope Sikorski, Holland West Ottawa, 6-3 , 2-6 , 7-5 No. 5 - Paislee Hartman, Holland West Ottawa - Eden Slager, Holland West Ottawa def. Morgan DeWulf, Byron Center - Lia Catalano, Byron Center, 6-1 , 6-3