Red Demons host WAC round-robin, finish third
By: Shelton Burch
Courtesy of Dodge Globe Sports Editor
The Dodge City Red Demons girls tennis team finished third in the Western Athletic Conference round-robin invitational Monday. Dodge City High School hosted the event, which featured 30 different players from within the conference. At the end of the day, Dodge City senior Leah Stein was announced as the 2017 Conference Player of the Year. It was her second straight time receiving the award.
She also finished first in the No. 1 Singles. Fellow senior Marissa Wissar also did well, finishing third in the No. 2 Singles.
Head coach David Snodgrass said she played well, despite coming up short against some of her opponents Monday.
“She’s definitely playing her best tennis right now, and for her to place third in an extremely tough, tough division, I couldn’t be more proud,” Snodgrass said.
Hosting the WAC, Snodgrass said was also special because it gave the team’s seniors, Wissar among them, one last chance to perform at home.
“Just knowing that it was Leah’s last performance at home,” Snodgrass said.
“She’s been a four-year-varsity player for our program and she’s been a great leader by example and just (her) work-ethic and has demonstrated what it takes to be successful, not only to the other varsity girls but to the junior varsity. Just to get those girls one last meet at home, it means a lot.”
Those seniors included Stein, Wissar, Kameron Lowery and Mireya Chacon.
“I couldn’t ask more than what Kameron, Mireya, Marissa and Leah have done for the program,” Snodgrass said. “It’s nice to have them perform in front of their families and friends and just compete at the high school one last time.”
The WAC was the last tuneup the team will get before it heads to Great Bend for Regionals Saturday. All along, the team’s goal has been to play its best come October.
“Even though we might have came up short in some matches, I think the girls showed a lot of grit, and they played with energy and effort and they competed,” Snodgrass said. “Ultimately that’s all we could ask, is just say ‘Hey, go out there and compete and give yourself the opportunity to win.’ And I think they showed that they had a lot of fight in the . And for us to end up getting third at WAC, one point away
from second-place, is huge for this team, and hopefully they take that as an opportunity as we move on to Regionals on Saturday.
