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Work on doubles leads River Ridge

By FRANK PASTOR
Published April 22, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Ron Spriggs doesn't worry about singles. Most of the River Ridge coach's players work with pros or play recreational tennis during the offseason, so he devotes much of his team's practice time to doubles.

"They have to get used to communicating with a partner, and it's kind of like a marriage," Spriggs said. "When you go out there, you have to trust who you're with, so we work a lot on doubles."

River Ridge's work was rewarded Tuesday, when it won the Class 3A, District 6 championship and advanced to today's region match at Daytona Beach Mainland thanks in part to its No. 2 doubles team.

Twin sisters Lauren and Ryane Hille won district championships at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, and teamed up to take the No. 2 doubles title.

"Last year, we had a shot and Lauren injured her ankle and was on crutches during the event, and we had another girl at No. 5 singles that had sprained an ankle two weeks earlier," Spriggs said. "I'm not saying that we could have taken Central, but they won it (five) years in a row, and I was beginning to wonder if anyone else was going to win it."

Though the Hilles won the most individual titles, Kristin Greenup provided the biggest surprise. The freshman tore through the No. 5 singles bracket, upsetting top-seeded Erica Goodell of Ridgewood on her way to the championship.

Greenup has played so well the past few weeks, Spriggs expects her to jump to No. 3 next season.

"The groundstrokes are really, really excellent, she's got a good serve, she works with a pro and she's passionate about the game," Spriggs said. "She plays during the offseason, and I'm positive she'll become involved in USTA in their junior events. She's going to be very good for us in the future."

If Greenup is River Ridge's future, senior Ina Groeger is its present. The exchange student from Germany was unbeaten in conference play and 13-2 overall before falling to defending district champ Jeanette McDonald of Central in the No. 1 singles final.

"In 30 years of coaching, I've coached against a lot of foreign exchange students," Spriggs said. "This is my first one, and she just happened to be unbelieveably awesome."

Groeger teamed with Natalie Ott-Brady to finish second to McDonald and Irene Cho at No. 1 doubles. Ott-Brady played No. 2 singles last season but is limited to doubles play this year because of a knee injury.

Another player who started last season, No. 5 singles all-conference selection Sara Palmer, serves as the Royal Knights' alternate.

[Last modified April 22, 2005, 00:44:19]