West Ottawa singles dominates way to seventh straight OK Red title
GRAND HAVEN - After clinching a share of the OK Red Conference title on Monday, the West Ottawa girls tennis team won the conference tournament on Saturday to claim the overall title.
It is the seventh consecutive OK Red title for the Panthers, who scored 65 points to hold off Rockford (61), Grand Haven (51), Hudsonville (46), Jenison (30), East Kentwood (22) and Grandville (19).
The Panthers joined Zeeland East (OK Green) and Holland Christian (OK Blue) as local conference champions.
"Each year the team picks a word that we carry though the season. This year the word was 'grit,' and wow did the girls show a lot of that today," West Ottawa coach Pete Schwallier said.
Senior Megan Blake won the championship at No. 1 singles, winning all three matches in straight sets. She dominated with 36 games won and just three games lost.
More: Megan Blake rallies to lead West Ottawa past Rockford for OK Red title share
More: Zeeland East girls tennis earns overall OK Green title by a half point: HC wins OK Blue
At No. 2 singles, junior Danielle Lebster won her flight title, dropping a total of five games in the tournament and winning each match in straight sets.
"She is playing incredible tennis right now," Schwallier said.
Freshman Evie Price improved to 22-1 on the season by winning her flight title at No. 3 singles.
Junior Jessica Zhang won the No. 4 singles flight title to complete the Panthers' singles sweep - with no one dropping a set.
"In the final match, she battled illness, but would not quit," Schwallier said. "Jessica was tied 4-4 in first set, then realized she'd need a new strategy to win given her fatigue. She began hitting drop shots to pull the opponent in, followed by a strong deep groundstroke before the opponent could recover back to the baseline. She then rattled off the final eight games to take the title."
West Ottawa got a win at No. 3 doubles as Kallyn Gaul and Lovelle Kim won the flight, winning the third set in three sets.
Haven March and Eden Hamilton finished runner-up at No. 2 doubles as did Aleah Feliu and Hope Hughes at No. 5.
Kayla Jones and Maggie Rothstein finished in third place at No. 1 doubles, while Kate Greco and Hortense Margez took fourth at No. 4 doubles.
West Ottawa will aim for a sixth consecutive Division 1 regional title on Thursday at home.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: West Ottawa singles dominates way to seventh straight OK Red title
