The GRC Girls Varsity tennis team got their first conference win last night against Northview. It was a pretty convincing 7-1 win and we liked that a lot of our teams were working on the things we had been practicing. It was a strong first dual win of the year. Team is now 1-2-1 in conference play. Here are the results:

1S Natalie Poortenga wins 6-0, 6-1.

2S Alex Vermeulen wins 6-0, 6-2.

3s Kaitlyn Schmitt wins 6-0, 6-2.

4s Avah Jerke wins 6-0, 6-0.

1d Frankie Volkema/Anna Jacobsen loss 5-7, 4-6.

2d Betta Klein/Gwyn Artz wins 6-0, 6-0.

3d Rachel Larsen/Lucy VanDrunen wins 6-0, 6-2.

4d Charline Dahu/Anneka Vermeulen wins 6-1, 6-0.

5d Adelyn Breuninger/Anwen Amash wins 6-0, 6-1.

6S Johanna Bos/Emily VandenBerge wins 6-3, 6-4.

The Eagles next match day is this Saturday in the FHE quad to where we will face 3 top ten Division 3 opponents (FHE, Chelsea, and Cranbrook). It will be held at FHE and Gainey and matches start at 8am. Please come out and support the team if you can! Go Eagles!!

The GRC Girls Varsity tennis team took on the #1 Division 2 team in the state, FHN yesterday. FHN came out with the victory 6-2 but GRC definitely made them earn their victories at every flight and the girls definitely competed hard and gave full effort on every point. The windy conditions were a challenge yet again that the players did not let get to them and the team is starting to become seasoned veterans in handling the adverse weather conditions. Here are the results:

1S Natalie Poortenga loss 4-6, 3-6. She played a strong player and competed really hard with a lot of good points and close games.

2S Alex Vermeulen loss 2-6, 0-6. A strong mental game by Alex facing some challenges from her opponent bending some rules shown yesterday.

3s Kaitlyn Schmitt loss 0-6, 4-6. A strong second set showing good growth in a match.

4s Avah Jerke wins 7-5, 6-0. Avah played an amazing match and absolutely dominated the 2nd set!

1d Frankie Volkema/Anna Jacobsen loss 0-6, 1-6.

2d Betta Klein/Gwyn Artz loss 1-6, 0-6.

3d Rachel Larsen/Lucy VanDrunen wins 7-6, 6-3. Rachel and Lucy played their best match of the season and were locked in from start to finish.

4d Charline Dahu/Anneka Vermeulen loss 3-6, 1-6.

5d Adelyn Breuninger/Anwen Amash wins 8-1. Another dominating win by these two.

6S Johanna Bos wins 6-2. Johanna now has a singles and doubles win on the season!

6S Emily VandenBerge loss 3-6.

The Eagles will face conference opponent Northview at home on Wednesday @4:30pm. Go Eagles!

The GRC Varsity girls tennis team had a good ole fashion tie 4-4 against Byron Center in their 2nd conference match of the season. It was a very windy and chilly day and us coaches were impressed how well the team competed with the conditions and were finding ways to adjust to the wind instead of complaining about it. Here are the results:

• 1 Singles: Natalie Poortenga wins 7-5, 6-3
• 2 Singles: Alex Vermeulen wins 6-0, 6-3
• 3 Singles: Kaitlyn Schmitt loss 2-6, 2-6
• 4 Singles: Avah Jerke loss 5-7, 5-7. Avah had a very strong showing in her first match of the season!
• 1 Doubles: Frankie Volkema/Anna Jacobsen loss 1-6, 2-6
• 2 Doubles: Betta Klein/Gwyn Artz wins 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3). These girls were the last match on with the team down 3-4 and with everyone watching, they come up clutch with a 7-3 tiebreak win. We were proud of Betta and Gwyn for the grit and focus they had in the last few games of their set.
• 3 Doubles: Rachel Larsen/Lucy VanDrunen wins 6-0, 3-6, 6-2. After coming out dominating in the first set, the other team showed up to play in the 2nd set, but Rachel and Lucy were able to retake the momentum and finish strong!
• 4 Doubles: Anneka Vermeulen/Charline Dahu loss 5-7, 3-6.
• 5 Doubles: Emily VandenBerge/Johanna Bos loss 3-6, 3-6
• 6 Doubles: Adelyn Breuninger/Anwen Amash wins 6-1, 6-1. These girls were the first match off and won in quick and dominating fashion.

The Eagles host an 8 team tournament, the Eagle Invitational, on Saturday. Doubles will play at Gainey and Singles will start at Canopa. Match start time is 8am and will run through the afternoon. Come out and support the varsity tennis team! Go Eagles!!

The GRC Varsity tennis girls played their first conference match against FHC yesterday and faced a tough division 2 foe and lost 0-8. Regardless of the score, the Eagles had some good and close matches and we learned a lot about what the team can work on from here. Here are the results:

1 Singles: Natalie Poortenga loss 6-4, 1-6, 3-6. in the match of the day that lasted close to 3 hours, Natalie played her heart out and played one of her best matches and came up just short to the former Division 2 1 singles state champ.

2 Singles: Alex Vermeulen loss 0-6, 1-6

3 Singles: Kaitlyn Schmitt loss 0-6, 0-6

4 Singles: Adelyn Breuninger loss 3-6, 5-7. 

1 Doubles: Frankie Volkema/Anna Jacobsen loss 0-6, 0-6

2 Doubles: Betta Klein/Gwyn Artz loss 1-6, 3-6

3 Doubles: Rachel Larsen/Lucy VanDrunen loss 6-7, 2-6

4 Doubles: Anneka Vermeulen/Charline Dahu loss 1-6, 6-1, 0-6

5 Doubles: Emily VandenBerge/Johanna Bos loss 0-8

5 Doubles: Emily VandenBerge/Anwen Amash wins 8-6. Anwen gets her first high school tennis match win of her career!

The Eagles will look to improve on this result when they face conference opponent at Byron Center on Wednesday. Go Eagles!!

On Saturday the Girls Varsity tennis team took on their first match day of the year playing in the Allegan Invitational. There were 8 teams at this invite across all divisions. The Eagles had a successful first match day of the year. They faced some adversity with an injury, players playing in new spots for the first time, other teams already having played matches, and some windier conditions…and in the end the team was up for these challenges and had a strong showing. The team finished in 4th place. Every single flight from 5 doubles to 1 singles also got at least 1 match win on the day which was awesome. This was many players first ever varsity matches and to get a first varsity match win on day one was huge. We also had several flights win more than 1 match. The important thing is we improved as a team and we are a better team as a result of competing on Saturday. Here is more detailed by flight results:

1 Singles: Natalie Poortenga finished in 1st place and was the tournament champion! She won all 3 matches in straight sets against Allegan, St. Joe, and Romeo. Natalie proved she was the best player at that tournament convincingly and had a strong showing to start the year out 3-0.

2 Singles: Alex Vermeulen finished in 3rd place. Alex started off the day with a double bagel against TC West and ended up losing a close match against a strong Romeo team. She capped off her day with a straight set win against St. Joe. Alex starts the year off 2-1.

3 Singles: Kaitlyn Schmitt finishing as the consolation champ. She played a really tough W. Ottawa player in the first and played one of her best matches she has ever played against an undefeated opponent. She went on to win in straight sets against Armada and TC West and played some solid tennis.

4 Singles: Adelyn Breuninger played her first every varsity and singles match and we are proud of the way she competed. She played two tough opponents to start against Romeo and EGR but played a lot of long points and competed well. Her attitude and mental game was stellar throughout too. The Romeo player even made the finals and ended up retiring early, probably because Adelyn wore her out so much! She proceeded to get her first varsity singles win in her last match winning 6-0, 6-1.

1 Doubles: Frankie Volkema/Anna Jacobsen came in 7th place. They faced a strong W. Ottawa team first and then proceeded to play two really close and strong matches against Armada and Allegan. They got better with every match and we are proud of their growth throughout the day. 

2 Doubles: Betta Klein/Gwyn Artz were consolation champions. They faced a strong St. Joe team first that ended up almost winning 1st place and then also proceeded to continue to improved in each match by beating Armada and Allegan and pretty convincing fashion to go 2-1 on the day.

3 Doubles: Rachel Larsen/Lucy VanDrunnen finished in 2nd place. These two girls dominated in their first two matches winning in straight sets in both against Armada and EGR. They faced a pretty strong W. Ottawa team in the finals and lost 3-6, 1-6 but they played some really good tennis and almost every game went to deuce. Proud of them for making it to the finals.

4 Doubles: Charline Dahu/Anneka Vermeulen finished in 2nd place. This was the first matches these two had played together and they looked like a veteran duo out there as they were in sync physically and mentally all day and were constantly adjusting and talking strategy. They won in straight sets against two solid opponents of EGR and WO and then went on to lose a very close match against Romeo 6-7, 2-6. They competed very strong until the end and we are proud of their performance.

5 Doubles: Emily Vandenberge/Johanna Bos finished in 3rd place. These girls were strong from the start beating Allegan 6-0, 6-1 in their first match and they proceeded to play a good match against a strong W. Ottawa team and came up just short. Once again, another team who I felt like improved with every match as they went on as I was most proud of their last match beating EGR 7-6, 6-2. They were down early but were thinking strategy and adjustments the whole time to where they made a come back in the set to trigger the tie break in which they proved to be the more clutch players. They then did not let them get any more momentum by dominating in the last set.

5 Doubles: Olivia Christians/Madeline Small finished in 6th place. These girls were called up last second to play and I couldn't have been more proud of the way competed, especially on a short notice to prepare. They played a strong team that ended up winning the 5D draw first and then proceeded to crush Armada in the 2nd match. They then finished with their best match of the day losing a close match to where they never gave up until the end. These two girls had some of the most energy, best footwork, and positive attitudes of the day and that is exactly what are looking for out of our doubles teams.

The Eagles take on their first conference opponent against Forest Hills Central today at home at 4:15pm. Come out and support your varsity tennis team! Go Eagles!