Milbank Girls Tennis Team Face Solid Teams at Brookings Triangular

The Lady Bulldogs tennis team faced two solid opponents during a triangular meet in Brookings on September 23. Milbank fell 6-3 to Brookings, and 9-0 to Yankton.

Rhianna Welberg was the only double winner in the Brookings match. She won the No. 4 singles match and teamed up with Rhianna Cantine for a win at No. 2 doubles. Milbank Head Coach Jim Dahl said, “It was her strongest outing thus far in the serving and groundstroke areas. Unfortunately, she was our only singles victory in this match. I felt we would be able to at least split with them in singles, but they outplayed us by being more aggressive and consistent.”

Milbank also suffered a 9-0 loss to Yankton. “Yankton proved to be a formidable opponent,” said Dahl. “Their ability to handle the racket with all types of strokes was too much for us to mount any serious threat to their game.”

Milbank has two regular season matches remaining on their schedule. They will host Aberdeen Roncalli Tuesday, September 26, and will then travel to Benson, MN, Thursday, September 28. The team will then look ahead to the state tournament which is scheduled for Thursday, October 5, through Saturday, October 7, in Sioux Falls.

Results from the Brookings Triangular:
Milbank 3, Brookings 6
Singles – 1. Jodi DeVaal fell to Jane Ardry, 8-1; 2. Halli Essington lost to Abby Enevoldsen, 8-6; 3. Rhianna Cantine dropped to Kia Witt, 8-2; 4. Rhianna Welberg defeated Dhwani Kharel, 8-3; 5. Hattie Muellenbach fell to Marina Du, 8-4; 6. Alexis Ninneman lost to Sylor Ness, 8-2.
Exhibition singles – Abby Michels fell to Tristina Ting, 8-1; MacKenzie Michels lost to Isha Hooda, 8-6.
Doubles – 1. DeVaal/Essington defeated Ardry/Enevoldsen, 8-5; 2. Cantine/Welberg defeated Witt/Kharel, 8-1; 3. Muellenbach/Ninneman fell to Du/Ness, 8-2.
Exhibition doubles – Michels/Michels fell to Ting/Hooda, 8-4.
Milbank 0, Yankton 9
Singles – 1. Jodi DeVaal fell to Anne Knoff, 8-1; 2. Halli Essington lost to Josephine Krajewski, 8-2; 3. Rhianna Cantine dropped to Olivia Tennant, 8-3; 4. Rhianna Welberg fell to Maddie Binder, 8-0; 5. Hattie Muellenbach lost to Peyton Tramp, 8-4; 6. Alexis Ninneman dropped to Maggie Schaefer, 8-2.
Exhibition singles – Abby Michels lost to Brenna Becker, 8-2; Mackenzie Michels fell to Aurora Papstein, 8-3.
Doubles – 1. DeVaal/Essington fell to Knoff/Krajewski, 8-1; 2. Cantine/Welberg lost to Tennant/Papstein, 8-3; 3. Muellenbach/Ninneman dropped to Binder/Becker, 8-0.
Exhibition doubles – Michels/Michels fell to Tramp/Schaefer, 8-2.

Photo: Rhianna Welberg.