From being four houses away from the NSU Tennis Courts to three hours away, Erin Dudley came back home to compete in the Hub City Open Tournament. The Sioux Falls resident found herself at home on Saturday.
“It’s just how I spent my childhood and my high school years, and just a lot of fond memories. A great way to grow up,” said Dudley. “A lot of nostalgia. I spent hours here every day. Lived here pretty much, farmers tan and all. So yeah, it feels good to be back.”
Dudley reminisced on one of the most recognizable parts of the tennis courts; the vines on the north fence.
“Literally, my whole singles match and my doubles match, we both were just like ‘Dude, the vines, they just eat up balls,’” Dudley said. “We actually had a guy like yell at us from the other side, as kids, trying to find the balls.”
Even though Dudley has moved on from her high school tennis days as a Roncalli Cavalier, she still finds herself staying in tennis shape by playing in leagues in Sioux Falls.
“I play in a summer league in Sioux Falls, and then I play in winter league indoors,” Dudley said. “I honestly was just playing tennis to stay in shape.”
Not only was she playing for the physical benefits, but to fulfill the competitive factor that athletes have. The reason she came up for this tournament was to see her level as a tennis player.
“I honestly just wanted to see if I still could do it, if I still had it in me,” Dudley said. “I just kind of wanted to do it more for the competitive edge just to see, again, if I still had it. Good on the mental health.”
FIRST TIMER
Isaac Mimong, a Jamestown, N.D. native, made his way down to Aberdeen to compete in the tournament this weekend. Some people come back home for this weekend, but Mimong came to Aberdeen having no prior relations to the Hub City.
“Jamestown’s got a couple tournaments in the winter that some Aberdeen folks will come up to,” Mimong said. “So we figured we’d come down to Aberdeen and play down here.”
Mimong, who previously played baseball at the University of Jamestown, made the most of his trip to Aberdeen by playing in the Men’s Open Singles and the Men’s Open Doubles. By mid-afternoon, Mimong had already played three matches and was getting ready for a fourth.
“It’s been a long day. I’ve had three matches so far,” Mimong said. “I’ve still got one more so not done, yet.”
Mimong ended up winning all four of his matches, two in singles and two in doubles.
With that many matches in one day, Mimong just focused on his current event.
“I mainly just tried to focus on the match at hand and not worry too much about the other matches,” Mimong said. “If I did, then my focus wasn’t gonna be there and I needed to stay focused.”
One of his first matches, in which he lost the opening set, went to a super tiebreaker that Mimong ended up winning 11-9.
“It’s kind of the beauty about tennis is even though you lose the first set, you’re not out of the match,” said Mimong. “You can always fight and crawl your way back into it, and that’s just what I did.”
PREPPING FOR A LONG DAY
Aberdeen’s Alice Vogel is home for the summer and chose to compete in the tournament this weekend. Playing in three different divisions, she had to prepare for the long two days in the sun ahead of time.
“I drink lots of water, I guess. Make sure to take breaks. And it’s not even today, like yesterday just preparing and drinking water and making sure I’m being extra-hydrated. Especially with the humidity because that adds a lot,” Vogel said. “Mentally, it can get tiring and can be like ‘Oh it’s so hot’ kind of want to be done, but just gotta keep pushing yourself, I guess. Just gotta keep going.”
Playing four matches on Saturday, Vogel said that it actually helps her to stay focused on specific fundamentals during the match.
“Actually, a really tiring match to start my day off with, but if I get tired, I just start focusing more on the game, I guess. My own game and what things I can fix to kind of take away from focusing on the heat,” Vogel said. “More thinking, ‘Oh I’m gonna try this instead or adjust this.’”
Vogel is competing in the Women’s Open singles, Women’s Open doubles, and Mixed doubles.
Her partner for mixed doubles is none other than John Vogel, her father and high school coach.
“It’s fun. And, I mean it can be interesting sometimes because I’m playing with my dad, who’s also my coach and sometimes you know you mess up and it’s a little bit more serious,” Vogel said. “It’s coming from a good place.”
Although it’s all tennis, the three different divisions provide a different outlook and style of play.
“I really like it because in each one, it’s a little bit different and you have to kind of play differently. I have always kind of preferred doubles. I’ve always liked playing it in high school and even now, I just think it’s a lot of fun to have someone else on the court with you,” said Vogel. “But it’s also fun when you’re on the court by yourself, because you have control over the entire point. … The mental and physical shifts are kind of fun between the different styles.”
DIFFERENT MINDSET
Aberdeen Central’s Aric Tennant opened the day up with a couple of huge wins over Landon Zikmund and Gannon May. Tennant went into both matches as the underdog, and viewed the matches with a different mindset than most.
“It felt pretty good. I go into all my matches thinking I’m gonna lose, because it makes it a lot easier to lose if you think you’re gonna lose,” Tennant said. “It makes your wins feel better then.”
Like others in the tournament, Tennant played multiple matches in the heat, and was in two divisions, Men’s Open Singles and Mixed Open doubles. With that many matches, Tennant tries to make them as efficient as possible.
“I just wanted to go home, honestly,” Tennant said. “I play better so I can go home faster.”
LESS THAN IDEAL CONDITIONS
With the Hub City Open attracting tennis players from all over, it can be a lot of pressure for Tournament Director Trent Kurtz. And having athletes who play in multiple events makes it more challenging.
“The thing that makes it difficult is when you have some people that play in all three events. So trying to get them enough rest,” Kurtz said. “Unfortunately, it always seems like it’s really hot during this tournament, so the kids have kind of learned their lesson over the last few years.”
With the temperature reaching 95 degrees towards the back half of the tournament, and a feels like of 103, it can make for tough conditions on the tennis courts. What made it even tougher was when brief rain showers caused a delay in the action.
“As the tennis coordinator, the worst part of the tournament is when you get rain. It was kind of just the annoying rain,” Kurtz said. “It only rained for about 15 minutes both times, but they both set us back about an hour each time.”
WIth wet courts, Kurtz had to squeegee the courts to get them ready for action. He also had help from players in the tournament.
“The second time was a little more rain, so we had to squeegee. Luckily, we have a lot of our instructors, our Parks and Rec instructors, are playing in this,” Kurtz said. “So, they clocked in for about a half hour and helped squeegee.”
In addition to the instructors who got paid to help out, other players helped out for free, which is just an attest to the community of Aberdeen.
“It’s awesome. You get these people that one, I’ve either played against or coached against and yeah, they’re out here helping doing whatever they can to help the tournament go smoothly,” Kurtz said. “We had other players that were not Parks and Rec instructors that were not getting paid that were helping us squeegee to just try to help out and do whatever they can.”
MEN’S DIVISION
Open Singles
Gannon May, bye; Aric Tennant def. Landon Zikmund, 4-6, 6-4, (10-4); Jordan Koushkouski, bye; Paul Vocu, bye; Isaac Mimong, def. Palmer Johnson, 6-4, 6-2; Zandar Binde, bye; Mika Dannen def. Jayden Reecy, 6-4, 6-0; John Vogel, bye; Tennant def. May, 1-6, 6-0, (10-5); Koushkouski def. Vocu, 6-4, 6-0; Mimong def. Binde, 4-6, 6-1, (11-9); Vogel def. Dannen, 6-1, 6-1.
Open Doubles
Landon Zikmund-Cason Hellwig, bye; Zandar Binde-Paul Vocu def. Ezra Feickert-Linus Johnson, 6-2, 6-2; Jordan Koushkouski-Isaac Mimong def. Palmer Johnson-Gannon May, 6-4, 6-3; Colton Hellwig-Isaiah Vilhauer def. Brock Anderson-Mika Dannen, 6-1, 6-1; Zikmund-Hellwig def. Binde-Vocu, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-2); Koushkouski-Mimong def. Hellwig-Vilhauer, 6-3, 6-3.
4.5 Singles
Alex Bough def. Grady Anderson, 6-0, 6-1; Hunter Miller def. Alex Tarver, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1; Brock Anderson def. Phil Swiggum, 6-2, 6-0; Will Muellenbach def. Wyatt Kiesz, 6-1, 6-2.
3.5 Doubles
(Round Robin) Alex Bough-Will Muellenbach def. Aaron Kiesz-Wyatt Kiesz, 6-4, 6-1; Todd Pederson-Gannon Pederson def. Kiesz-Kiesz, 7-5, 6-2.
WOMEN’S DIVISION
Open Singles
Sarah Knie, bye; Mady Holman def. Debrianna Hicks, 6-0, 6-1; Erin Dudley, 6-1, 6-0; Alice Vogel def. Estelle Riggs, 7-5, 2-6, (10-7).
Open Doubles
Avery Tennant-Chloe Ladner, bye; Julia Knie-Ashley Anguiano-Ortega, 6-2, 6-1; Alice Vogel-Mirra Frohling def. Erin Dudley-Delaney McNulty, 6-1, 6-0; Sarah Knie-Estelle Riggs, bye; Tennant-Ladner def. Knie-Anguiano-Ortega, 6-3, 3-6, (10-5); Knie-Riggs def. Vogel-Frohling, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, (10-5).
