With an 8-1 win over Marquette on Monday, the Waterloo High School girls tennis squad improved to 11-3 on the season. 

Other wins for the Bulldogs this fall include ones over Civic Memorial, Granite City, Roxana, Herrin, Morton, Metro East Lutheran, Highland, Wood River, Mascoutah and Collinsville.

The losses were to Althoff, Jerseyville and Triad.

“Each player provides and contributes something to practices or matches,” Waterloo tennis coach Brett Ivers said. “This is a great team to watch and a great group of individuals to be around. I am always glad to hear the compliments from the other coaches on how nice our girls are on the court.”

Top players for the Bulldogs include junior Kailey Walter, who qualified for state last year in doubles and is “playing outstanding tennis,” according to Ivers. 

“She has really worked hard in the offseason. Kailey is looking to try to qualify for the state tournament this year as our top singles player,” Ivers said.

Another junior, Teagan Nodorft, won a conference title at No. 3 singles last year and is competing this season at No. 2 singles. She has 10 wins so far this season.

Rylee Ivers, also a junior, plays at No. 3 singles and has battled a basketball injury.

“She has played well so far and teams with Teagan to form our top doubles team,” the head coach said.  

Kaitlyn Warden, yet another junior, has moved way up in the lineup and has been a steady force, Coach Ivers said.

“She has had great success and has won 13 matches this year, including the No. 2 singles flight of the Herrin Invitational,” Ivers said.

Other key players this fall include Lilly Prather, who teams with Warden at No. 3 doubles, Katie Williams at No. 6 singles  and Gabi Elledge, who teams with Walter at No. 2 doubles.

“Gabi’s aggressive net play combined with Kailey’s all-court play have been awesome to watch,” Ivers said.

“It would be easy to continue to list off every one of the remaining players on the team,” Ivers concluded. “We again have one of the largest teams in the area with over 20 players.”

Waterloo plays in the Mississippi Valley Conference singles and doubles championships this weekend.