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MacKenzie Hyde

2023 Seniors

The 2022 Lady Eagles tennis team went 6-7. While not all of those matches were Mountain League matches they still did not have enough wins to advance to the postseason.

The team was in a rebuilding year after having their starting five for the past two years graduate last year. Most of the girls hadn’t before played many singles matches. In the next few years the team next year will be a fairly young team and the seniors are hopeful that the girls will have better seasons in the upcoming years.

“I think with so many underclassmen in the seasons to come that they will be able to grow in their skills and will eventually be a really good team, “ said senior Ashlynn McKinney

For the five seniors on the girls tennis team, their last match was played on October 12.

The starting lineup of girls was composed of three seniors. Renee Vanprooyen, Ashlynn McKinney, and Sarah Butina. Senior Lydia Seltzer also consistently played in doubles matches and newcomer Mara Bollinger got to learn more about the game and improve her skills along with her teammates.

There were six other girls on the team composed of both Bellwood and Tyrone girls. Two freshmen also joined the team this last season.

“We had a lot of new kids from Bellwood which was cool to expand our team and get to know new people. We worked together to improve our skills and have fun,” said Seltzer.

The match that was the closest and the most important of the season was the Clearfield match and the Lady Eagles fell one game short of victory.

Four girls represented the Eagles in districts. Senior Renee Vanprooyen and sophomore Emma Witkamp played in the singles districts. Vanprooyen won her first-round match in a long fight but shortly after lost in the next round. Witkamp did not advance past the first round. The next week Vanprooyen and Witkamp played in district doubles seeded tenth and seniors Ashlynn McKinney and Sarah Butina were the second team from Tyrone seeded ninth. Both teams played close matches but ultimately lost in the first round.

“I enjoyed the experience of playing against other fantastic teams, especially during my senior year. I like to be challenged and this experience definitely was,” said Sarah Butina about her experience at districts.

One thing the seniors stated they will miss the most are the speeches the assistant coach made before every match.

“Before every match Coach K would gather us together and inspire us to do our best and not let the pressure get to us. He stressed the importance of self-improvement,” said Seltzer.