Kennedy Girls Tennis

Lasecki earns MVC tennis honor

Cedar Rapids Washington senior Katie Hammond has been named female tennis Athlete of the Year in the MVC Mississippi Division.

The unbeaten Hammond, who also plays on the Warriors' girls soccer team, is undefeated in tennis and ranked No. 2 in the state.

Hammond and Linn-Mar senior Katie Rakers were named unanimous selections on the Mississippi team. They were joined on the first team by Kennedy junior Sara Lasecki, Washington junior Kristin King, Linn-Mar senior Jenna Myers and Iowa City high freshman Eve Small.

Washington's Dan Reyner was named the Mississippi Division Coach of the Year.

Xavier senior Laura Birky was the only Metro representative on the Valley Division first team.

Hempstead's Katie Meyer is the Valley Division Athlete of the Year and Cedar Falls' Mike Knox is the Coach of the Year.

MVC ALL-CONFERENCE GIRLS TENNIS
* - Unanimous selections

MISSISSIPPI DIVISION

First Team
*Katie Rakers (LM), sr.
*Katie Hammond (CRW), sr.
Sara Lasecki (CRK), jr.
Eve Small (ICH), fr.
Kristin King (CRW), jr.
Jenna Myers (LM), sr.

Second Team
Olivia Brooks (CRW), sr.; Ashton Stoppelmoor (DS), jr.; Kathleen Hutchinson (DW) so.; Courtney Schneider (DW) sr.; Lilly Hartman (CRW), fr.; Lindsay Minder (CRK) sr.

Honorable Mention
Kennedy -- Alexa Mitchell, Katherine Thompson
Washington -- Alana Sabin; Rina Moore
Dubuque Senior -- Virginia Meurer, Maie Khalil
Dubuque Wahlert -- Caroline Ott, Emily Sullivan
Iowa City High -- Lindsay Hall, Elizabeth Schieffer
Linn-Mar -- Ashley Smith, Gabi Botsford
Waterloo West -- Elma Beganovic, Aubrey Grant

Athlete of the Year -- Katie Hammond (CRW)

Coach of the Year -- Dan Reyner (CRW)

VALLEY DIVISION

First Team
Laura Birky (CRX), sr.
Katie Todd (CF), sr.
*Katie Meyer (DH), jr.
*Addy Riley (ICW), jr.
Olivia Lofgren (ICW), sr.
Abby Ahlrichs (DH), jr.
Elena Wilson (ICW), jr.

Second Team
Allison Jasper (CRX), fr.; Crystal Terman (CRJ), sr.; Halle Bensen (CF), jr.; Brittani Langland (ICW), fr.; Kelli Walsh (CRJ), sr.; Sophie Mallaro (CF), so.

Honorable Mention
Cedar Falls -- Hannah Mallaro, Maya Amjadi
Jefferson -- Lydia French, Deserae Richter
Prairie -- Maddie Rainey, Bri Kalous
Xavier -- Meggie Gates, Devin Hayes
Hempstead -- Nina Streauslin, Carie Crabill
Iowa City West -- Megan Jans, Jenny Clark
Waterloo East -- Brenna Goodrich, Cheyanne Custer

Athlete of the Year -- Katie Meyer (DH)

Coach of the Year -- Mike Knox (CF)

All-Academic
Kennedy -- Rachel Gilman, Lexie Scharmer
Washington -- Alana Sabin, Shea Sabin
Linn-Mar -- Katie Rakers, Jenna Myers
Jefferson -- Crystal Terman, Kelli Walsh
Prairie -- Emily Wetherell, Alicia Ekman
Xavier -- Meggie Gates, Laura Birky

Kennedy girls breeze into tennis regional semis

Kennedy swept all six singles matches Saturday and breezed into next weekend's Class 2A regional team tennis semifinals.

The Cougars (11-3) beat Cedar Falls, 6-0. They will play Waterloo West next Saturday at Kennedy at 9 a.m. The winner of that match will face the winner of the Linn-Mar/Mason City match for the regional title at about 1 p.m.

Sarah Lasecki beat Katie Todd at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-3, to start Kennedy's onslaught. Katherine Thompson, Lindsay Minder and Alexa Mitchell won in straight sets. Rachel Gilman and Melanie Abzug won in tiebreakers.

No doubles were played.

KENNEDY 6, CEDAR FALLS 0

Singles

1. Sarah Lasecki (CRK) def. Katie Todd, 6-3, 6-3
2. Katherine Thompson (CRK) def. Halle Benson, 6-1, 6-4
3. Lindsay Minder (CRK) def. Hannah Mallaro, 6-3, 6-3
4. Alexa Mitchell (CRK) def. Sophie Mallaro, 6-3, 6-3
5. Rachel Gilman (CRK) def. Maya Amjadi, 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-3)
6. Melanie Abzug (CRK) def. Ariana Mitra, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)

Washington girls eye state tennis title

The Cedar Rapids Washington girls tennis team has won 13 straight matches this season and is ranked No. 2 in the state.

The Warriors want more. They want to win the Class 2A state title after finishing third in 2011, and they could have the team to do it.

"We set the goal at the beginning of the season to go undefeated. And they're working real hard. They took it to heart," Coach Dan Reyner said Tuesday. ""It's important to all the girls."

Washington stayed undefeated Tuesday with an 8-1 victory over Kennedy in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet on a gray, overcast day at the Washington courts.

The Warriors have all of their top players back from last season and have received a boost from freshman Lily Hartman, who hasn't lost a match all year and has climbed to No. 3 in the singles rotation ahead of more experienced teammates.

"We're deep," said junior Kristin King, who plays No. 2 singles. "It's probably the best thing we have going for us."

Senior Katie Hammond raised her record to 11-0 with a 10-1 victory over Sarah Lasecki at No. 1 singles, then rushed over to Kingston Stadium to play in a varsity soccer match against Dubuque Wahlert. King is 13-0 at No. 2 singles, Hartman is 13-0 in the No. 3 spot, Olivia Brooks is 12-1 at No. 4 singles, Lanie Sabin is 12-1 at No. 5 and Rina Moore is 11-0 at No. 6.

There's not a soft spot in the lineup.

Reyner quickly grabbed one word to describe his team's play this season. "Awesome," he said after the Warriors beat Kennedy.

Reyner feels this is the strongest team he's had at Washington during his 12 years as head coach.

"We are so incredibly deep. I've told these girls all season long, our 2-3-4 girls could probably play No. 1 on over half the teams in the state," he remarked.

The Warriors lost to Iowa City West, 5-2, in the semifinals of the state tournament last year, then blanked West Des Moines Valley 5-0 in the consolation match for third place. Ames defeated Iowa City West for the 2011 state title and the talented Little Cyclones are ranked No. 1 ahead of Washington right now.

"Ames will definitely be the toughest team we'll play if we see them at state, so hopefully we will," said King.

The goal isn't to face Ames, the goal is to beat Ames in the state finals. "Definitely," said King, "and I think we have a good chance."

Reyner is thinking the same way. "We want to meet Ames," he said. "They're going to be tough."

The Warriors finished third in the state tournament last year with an entire lineup of underclassmen. They're older and more experienced now, with three seniors and two juniors in the lineup with Hartman, the ninth grader.

"I definitely am proud of third," said Brooks, one of the seniors who helped the Warriors win the consolation match at state. "Of course I would love to get second or first, but I'm definitely proud of third. We lost to West last year and they definitely deserved it. They played well."

Brooks embraces the goal of winning the state title this time. "We're going to give it our all. No promises," she said.

So far, so good.

"This season has been awesome. We're really playing well," said King. "Every single member of our team has done really well."

The postseason tournaments begin next week.

WASHINGTON 8, KENNEDY 1

Singles
1. Katie Hammond (W) def. Sarah Lasecki, 10-1.
2. Kristin King (W) def. Katherine Thompson, 10-3.
3. Lilly Hartman (W) def. Lindsey Minder, 10-2.
4. Olivia Brooks (W) def. Alexa Mitchell, 10-1.
5. Lanie Sabin (W) def. Rachel Gilman, 10-3.
6. Rina Moore (W) def. Melanie Abzug, 10-2.

Doubles
1. Lasecki/Minder (K) def. King/Brooks, 10-7.
2. Hammond/Sabin (W) def. Thompson/Mitchell, 10-8.
3. Hartman/Moore (W) def. Gilman/Abzug, 10-0.

Kennedy girls whip Wahlert in tennis

Kennedy won four singles matches and whipped Dubuque Wahlert, 6-3, Monday in girls tennis at Kennedy.

Sarah Lasecki, Alexa Mitchell, Rachel Gilman and Melanie Abzug all won singles matches for the Cougars.

Gilman and Abzug teamed up to win at No. 3 doubles.

KENNEDY 6, DUBUQUE WAHLERT 3

Singles
1. Sarah Lasecki (CRK) def. Kat Hutchinson, 10-8
2. Courtney Schneider (DW) def. Katherine Thompson, 10-3
3. Caroline Ott (DW) def. Lindsay Minder, 10-4
4. Alexa Mitchell (CRK) def. Emily Sullivan, 10-3
5. Rachel Gilman (CRK) def. Mary Frickey, 10-2
6. Melanie Abzug (CRK) def. Emily Oberhoffer, 11-10 (7-3)

Doubles
1. Hutchinson/Schneider (DW) def. Lasecki/Ott, 10-6
2. Thompson/Mitchell (CRK) def. Ott/Sullivan, 10-5
3. Gilman/Abzug (CRK) def. Frickey/Oberhoffer, 10-7