Francis Howell North Knights Hope to Unseat Howell For Top Spot in GAC Tourney

It’s been a very good season for the girls tennis teams from the Francis Howell school district. Francis Howell, Francis Howell Central and Francis Howell North enter next week’s Gateway Athletic Conference Tournament as the top three teams, although the Vikings are the prohibitive favorite.

Led by the sister duo of senior Allison Barker and younger sister Erin, the Vikings are unbeaten in conference duels and are 12-1 on the season.

“I’ve got a deep team and they’ve played pretty consistent all through the season,” Howell coach Lee Hays said. “I feel pretty good about it.”

Allison Barker, the No. 1 singles player, is 11-2 on the year. Erin, a sophomore, is perfect in 13 matches as the No. 2. Juniors Emily Salter and Emily Phelps have a combined 17 wins and just two losses as the No. 3 and 4. Sophomores Lauren Christiansen (8-1) and Makayla Thompson (9-1) round out the singles for the Vikings, who will have the benefit of playing on their home courts.

The Barkers haven’t been beaten as a doubles team and could make a deep run through the postseason, beginning next week.

“They’re playing really well together,” Hays said. “We’ll see how everything goes.”

Phelps and senior Emma Rexroat are 12-1 as the No. 2 doubles with the No. 3 doubles team of Salter and senior Maria Smith sporting an 8-2 record.

The biggest challenge could come from Francis Howell Central, which is 11-1 under first-year coach Emily Ottsen. The lone defeat was an 8-1 duel loss to Howell. Senior Lindsey Neuwirth, who is 9-1 on the season in the No. 4 slot, has been a positive influence and has renewed the confidence of the Spartans.

“I hope to knock off Howell,” Ottsen said. “We just need to keep our heads in the game. They can beat them. They’re just letting them in their heads. We have to go into it with the attitude that we can win this. We can win against Howell.”

Junior Kourtlyn Adams is 8-1 as the top singles player. Senior Brooke Hillis is 8-2, junior Naddie Wilson is 7-3 followed by Neuwirth and junior Katy Gerler and Alex Wilson, who are both 9-1.

Adams and Hillis comprise Central’s top doubles team and are 8-2. Naddie Wilson and Gerler are 9-1 as the No. 2 team with seniors Courtney Teabeau and Mary Bindbeutel bringing in an 8-2 mark as the No. 3 team.

Fort Zumwalt South and could also be players for next week’s team crown. Howell North has enjoyed a 10-2 season despite not having a home court for much of August. Promised that the new courts would be ready by Aug. 8, the Knights had to wait until Aug. 25 to step onto the new surface. Despite the wait, North got off to a 6-0 start, prompting coach Kate Kleiber to say her players “weathered it well” and “did what they had to do to make it work.”

While there are some tweaks that still need to be made, Kleiber said the playing surface is fantastic.

During the wait, the Knights practiced at the – and indoor tennis club on Main Street in St. Charles. Once they were able to move outside, players like No. 1 singles player Risa Takenaka – a freshman who is 12-0 on the season – said they no longer felt “so caged in.”

Behind Takenaka is senior Michelle Spencer, who is 9-3. The No. 3 singles player is senior Krista Griffin (10-2), No. 4 junior Jackie Jorel (8-4), No. 5 senior Georgie Wright (6-5) and junior Jasmine Wahlbrink (7-3). The doubles teams are Takenaka and Wright (8-1), Jorel and Griffin (5-4) and Spencer and Wahlbrink (8-1).

Kleiber concedes that Howell is the odds-on favorite because of its depth, but she’s eyeing the No. 2 spot. Francis Howell North lost to Francis Howell Central 5-4 during the season and the Knights would like to exact some revenge.

“I’m thinking we’re going to be up there at 2 or 3,” Kleiber said. “If we play well, we can be 2.”