A successful outing for the Reeths-Puffer girls tennis team usually involves a great day for the Rockets’ two top singles players – Brooke Titus and Olivia Harris.
On Saturday, however, Titus and Harris had good days, not great days, but the Rockets accomplished their mission anyway, winning the team championship at the Fruitport Invitational.
The top performances for the Rockets came from other places in the lineup.
R-P's Mylie Neel, who won the No. 3 singles title.
Mylie Neel (No. 3 singles), Molly Matz (No. 4 singles), Emma Fraser and Whitney Dulyea (No. 2 doubles), Hope Latsch and Olivia Smith (No. 3 doubles), and Tapanga Foster and Kate Bullion (No. 4 doubles) all posted perfect 3-0 records to push the Rockets over the top.
Reeths-Puffer finished with 19 points, followed by Fruitport with 13, Coopersville with 10 and Muskegon Catholic Central with 8.
The Rockets won 19 of their 24 total games en route to their third tournament championship of the season.
Molly Matz, who won the No. 4 singles title.
Several Rockets had to work extra hard to secure their perfect outings.
Neel lost the first set of her match against Fruitport’s Audra Peterson, 4-6, then battled back to win the last two, 7-5 and 10-5.
Latsch and Smith lost the first set of their match against Coopersville 1-6, then rallied to win the last two, 6-4, 10-7.
Emma Fraser and Whitney Dulyea, the No. 2 doubles champions.
Matz, Fraser and Dulyea and Foster and Bullion all won all three of their matches in straight sets.
Titus finished with a 2-1 record at No. 1 singles and Harris did the same at No. 2. Harris passed the 50-victory career mark at the tournament.
“Another great invitational for the Rockets,” said R-P Coach Ryan Hankinson. “Tapanga Foster and Kate Bullion filled in for our regular four doubles team, which slipped up and played three doubles. This emphasized the newfound depth and competition the program has developed from additional work in the offseason."
Olivia Smith and Hope Latsch, who won the No. 3 doubles title.
