On Monday, September 21st, the Willow Springs girls’ tennis team took on Rolla at home. “We played well overall against a very deep team. There’s not a lot of difference between number one and six. We lost a couple of heartbreakers in doubles, but Bethany and Amber picked up really high quality singles win,” stated Coach Spence.  The final score was Rolla 7 and Willow Springs 2.

The two wins came from Bethany with a win of 8 to 4 and Amber with the score of 8 to 6. “I felt amazing beating Rolla, it was the first time I’ve been able to do that in high school,” said Junior Amber Grogan. The other girls played hard but fell short.

 On Tuesday, September 22nd, the Willow Springs tennis team participated in the Springfield Invitational Tournament. The tournament format was a field of 64 singles players and 64 doubles teams; each team had two entries in each bracket. Participation schools came from across the state to play in the annual tournament.

In the doubles, Alicen Rothermich and Bethany Carter won against Kickapoo and Waynesville but lost to Greenwood in the 3rd round, 8 to 5. Also in the doubles, BreAnna Newman and Caitlyn Wiegand lost in the first round to Jefferson City Helias, 8 to 3. In the singles, Amber Grogan won against Carl Junction but fell to Bolivar, 8 to 0. Tamara Caldwell lost to Carl Junction, 8 to 3.

“Excellent showing by Alicen and Bethany to make it to the Sweet 16 of the tournament and beating a Kickapoo team. Amber also was hitting very well and ran into one of the best players in the area in LaVere from Bolivar,” commented Coach Spence.