They’re no longer road Warriors

\McHenry’s Emma Romme returns a ball at the net during a No. 1 singles match against Woodstock North’s Sierra Meiners on Tuesday in McHenry. Romme won, 6-0, 6-0. (Sarah Nader - snader@shawmedia.com)

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MCHENRY – McHenry christened its newly surfaced tennis courts with a 7-0, Fox Valley Conference crossover win against Woodstock North on Tuesday.

The Warriors played all of their matches away for both the girls and boys seasons last school year. McHenry coach Kyle Funkhouser estimated that he made about 44 bus trips over the course of two seasons.

“Playing three or four matches a week started to take a toll on them,” Funkhouser said of having to travel to every match last season. “It starts to add up.”

Emma Romme defeated Sierra Meiners, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 1 singles to lead the Warriors’ charge. Romme said she hoped to play better against the top FVC players this year.

“I feel pretty good about this year,” Romme said. “I think I should be able to step up my game a little.”

Not having to constantly travel will also be a plus.

“It’s nice to play at home and feel like you own something,” Romme said. “It was a little tiring having to travel everywhere.”

Funkhouser said Romme always has focused on playing basketball, but still has become one of the better players in the FVC. In addition, Romme also has competed in track and softball.

“Considering she hasn’t taken lessons until this last year, it’s very impressive,” Funkhouser said. “She’s a great athlete.”

Meiners, a sophomore, was playing in her first varsity singles match. She played doubles last year with her sister, Lark. Thunder coach Mike Buehler said he was impressed with some of Meiners’ long rallies and was looking forward to seeing her develop.

“I’ll be excited in two years for her,” Buehler said.

McHenry’s Ashley Sword and Meghan Simon defeated Kellie Smith and Marissa Thompson, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 1 doubles.

Sword and Simon said they didn’t think they played great, but felt they improved as the match went on.

“We definitely picked it up in the second set,” Sword said.

Playing in front of a home crowd was the biggest highlight for them.

“It’s nice just walking out to the courts,” Simon said. “And all our friends came to see us. There was a ton of people here.”

Also winning for the Warriors were Brittany Goebel at No. 2 singles and Lauren Goebel at No. 3 singles. In doubles, Angela Morck and Jill Manzo won at No. 2, Celina Kilhefner and Lauren Edwards won at No. 3 and Libby Smith and Sam Welch won at No. 4.

Buehler said that with his young, inexperienced squad, he looks for small victories that don’t show up in the scoreline.

“I like the fact that we were getting a number of longer rallies,” Buehler said. “That’s a big step up from what we did last year. We’re developing a little consistency and better footwork.”