Talented Bison get winning result vs. Fremd
Buffalo Grove coach Kevin Schrammel has depth and he has talent. Those are the two qualities he's already confident about with his girls tennis team.
Where to place all that talent is what he's still unsure about.
Still admittedly tinkering with his lineup, Schrammel found a winning combination Tuesday as the Bison defeated Fremd 5-2 at Buffalo Grove in the opening day of Mid-Suburban League action.
"The nice thing is we have a lot of options," said Schrammel, whose team finished first in the East and second overall in the conference last season. "I think we're better at all positions. They have talent. They certainly have the talent to do pretty well."
Buffalo Grove returns all three of its singles players. Senior Jen Immen, the No. 1 player, leads the group of returnees after making a run to state last season. Megan Crompton and Emily Wieland are also back.
Immen fell to Fremd's Jenna Langhorst, the area's top returning singles player, 6-0, 6-0 on Tuesday. Crompton and Wieland both pulled out two-set victories over the Vikings.
At No. 1 doubles, sophomore twins Ashton and Heather Nisbet showed Tuesday why they and Schrammel believe it could be a special year for the pair. A year older and a year more experienced, the twins understand the game of doubles a lot better than they did as freshmen.
"Coming from last year, we got experience together," Ashton said. "This year we're doing a lot more volleying. Last year coach got on us a lot about that. We learned that from last year.
"We love playing together. We're excited to play No. 1 doubles."
The twins showed off their better volleying skills in a 6-3, 6-3 win over Fremd's Katie Dewar and Elizabeth Stephenson.
If Schrammel does decide to alter his lineup, freshman Nell Boyd is the likely candidate to move elsewhere. On Tuesday, Boyd teamed with senior Katie Meyers to defeat Fremd 7-5, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles. Boyd, who is an experienced singles player, could go a number of places for the Bison.
"She's just a player," Schrammel said. "She's very athletic. She has skills all around."
Aside from Langhorst, most of the Vikings struggled on Tuesday. Langhorst, who finished ninth at state last season, is expected to be among Illinois' best again. She spent the entire summer touring the country and concentrating specifically on her second serve and play at the net.
"I really feel like I improved," Langhorst said. "I'm excited for the season. I was disappointed last year with my finish at state. I'd like to do better this year."