By By STEVE MORRISON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – After having success against neighboring rival Dowagiac on Monday, the refueled Niles High School girls' tennis team hosted a match against undefeated Mattawan (5-0-1) on Wednesday afternoon.
Mattawan came in with a purpose and left with a solid 8-0 win.
"Mattawan was tough," stated Niles coach Jill Weber. "We played well (despite the outcome). They (Mattawan) are one of the better teams we play. The better the teams we play, the better we become.
"One singles, Rachel Horn, played really well, two singles (Sara Stenstrom) also was good. Seriously, there was not one single player that didn't play well today.
"It was great. I'm really pleased with the girls. They didn't cower; they stood up and played really well," she added.
After the match, you could see that enthusiasm abounded among the Vikings, as they laughed and cheered in their meeting with coach Weber after the contest.
Their spirit to win is very evident and still intact.
Niles No. 1 doubles gave their opposition all that they could handle. Lena Cramer and April Lee won their first set for Niles, 6-3.
The duo of Morgan Sot and Rachel Lefler came back to take the last two sets narrowly 6-4, and then 6-1 for the visiting Wildcats.
Rachel Horn looked good in her first set for Niles, in No. 1 singles, against Jen Reiter of Mattawan before bowing 3-6.
Reiter won the second frame 6-1.
Niles falls to 2-4 on the year, but that optimistic attitude is certain to bode well for their future.
Mattawan… 8
Niles…0
Singles
1. Jen Reiter (M) d. Rachel Horn (N) 6-3, 6-1; 2. Sage Sackett (M) d. Sara Stenstrom (N) 6-1, 6-1; 3. Laura Lesniak (M) d. Kyra Carpenter (N) 6-0, 6-0; 4. Kara Kingma (M) d. Angeles Palma (N) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles
1. Morgan Sot-Rachel Lefler (M) d. Lena Cramer-April Lee (N) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; 2. Kelly Carbary-Hanah Robb (M) d. Ali Langraf-Katie Bourbonnass 6-1, 6-0; 3. Callie Graham-Rachel Dudley (M) d. Lauren Girven-Meg Hein (N) 7-5, 6-2; 4. Lauren Wallace-Kristen Ellefson (M) d. Sarah Rouse-Jessica Bortocci (N) 6-3, 6-2