Raider Tennis Opens League with 7-1 Win Over Greyhounds

On Thursday, the Portland varsity girls’ tennis team traveled to Eaton Rapids. They Raiders won 7-1. Singles No. 1 — Mackenzie Wyman, EATON RAPIDS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, def. Rebekah Leduma, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, 1-6, 6-3

No. 2 — Ainsley Ludema, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, def. Katrina Kesson, EATON RAPIDS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, 6-2, 6-0

No. 3 — Kayla Weller, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, def. Mackenzie Caksackkar, EATON RAPIDS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, 7-5, 6-1

No. 4 — Taylor Jenks, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, def. Emma Price, EATON RAPIDS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, 6-1, 6-1; Doubles No. 1 — Rachel VanHouten-Riley Thelen, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, def. Xin Dong-Isabelle Villanueva, EATON RAPIDS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 6-1, 6-1

No. 2 — Julia Savage-Samantha Weber, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, def. Emma Riley-Breezy Marcus, EATON RAPIDS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 6-4, 6-2

No. 3 — Maura Lufkin-Novelle Matteson, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, def. Allison Gates-Angel Markle, EATON RAPIDS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 6-1, 6-2

No. 4 — Dezirae Thomas-Emily Bigelow, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, def. Kailee Treloar-Stephanie Pratt, EATON RAPIDS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 6-1, 7-5;

After the match, Portland coach Jim Niebling said, “Just before getting on the bus to travel to Eaton Rapids, a season ending injury forced a whole-sale of lineup changes. The girls could have easily become rattled and distracted, but they remained resilient and focused on executing. A win to open up league play is always a good thing, but today it says a lot more about the toughness of this team than anything else. The match of the day belongs to Ainsley Ludema who played the best match of her season thus far. Ainsley utilized what she's been learning in practice to play some very clean and confident singles points. “