Sofia Alinea conference runner-up at No. 1 singles for Comet girls tennis team

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

WAVERLY — The original Saturday Night Live troupe called itself “The Not Ready for Prime-Time Players”.

The roster Charles City fielded for Saturday’s North Central Tennis Conference Tournament at Wartburg College could have appropriately branded itself “The Not Getting Ready for Prom-Time Players” … a distinction that, ironically, yielded plenty of varsity “prime time” for the Comets’ younger and junior varsity players.

“We lost a lot of our top senior singles players for this due to them having to get ready for (Charles City’s) prom tonight,” Comet coach Brian Parrott said of Anya Ruzicka, Marissa Avelar and Savannah Baldus, who — respectively — have consistently filled the No. 2, 3 and 4 singles slots this season for the Comets, “but this gives some of our other players a chance to play a lot of tennis at the varsity level.”

Charles City did retain the services of its No. 1 singles and doubles player — sophomore Sofia Alinea, who placed second in No. 1 singles and third in No. 1 doubles with freshman teammate Joselin Bonnstetter.

The tournament employed a five-team/player round-robin format for singles categories ranked 1 through 6, and doubles categories ranked 1 through 3. For both singles and doubles matches, eight games were played with wins and losses recorded and accumulated — there were no “set” scores or tiebreakers if a match ended 4-4.

Decorah junior Olivia Huinker was the No. 1 singles champion, one of five conference singles champions for the tournament-winner Vikings. In her match against Alinea, Huinker took a 4-1 lead before Alinea — who has a pounding passing shot that can be dangerous when placed between the lines — rallied to win the next two games.

Huinker was able to break Alinea’s serve in the eighth game to seize the fifth win (5-3) and avoid a 4-4 tie.

Stepping up to fill the No. 3 singles role for the Comets was junior Sofia Parrott, a recent addition to the team.

Though this is Parrott’s first season playing high school tennis, she is definitely familiar with the sport. Not only is she granddaughter of the Comet coach, but her father, Jeremy Parrott, was an outstanding tennis player before focusing on golf and becoming a two-time All-American and NCAA champion at the University of Georgia; and her uncle, Travis, was an NCAA tennis champion at Georgia before turning pro and winning a Grand Slam Tournament with a mixed doubles win at the 2009 U.S. Open.

If Parrott goes on to achieve similar notoriety in tennis as some of her close relatives, the NCTC Tournament may be considered as her “breakout” event in retrospect. Throughout the day and along about every inch of the court, Parrott displayed the type of spanning quicksilver mobility that helped make her an All-Northeast Iowa Conference First Team setter in volleyball.

Though Parrott’s athleticism and ability to make backhand and forehand shots on the run made for some entertaining and extended rallies, as she gains more gamesmanship and greater shot placement at the varsity level, these mad scrambles will likely become more contained and produce more winners.

Parrott tied for third in No. 3 singles.

Decorah freshman Grace Huinker won the No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles with Olivia Huinker.

Decorah seniors Leah Holland, Jaidyn Duvel and Klaara Short were the respective No. 4, 5 and 6 singles champions; Holland and junior Kaitlyn Bjork were the No. 2 doubles champions, and Duvel and senior Camryn Holland were the No. 3 doubles champions for the Vikings, whose first-place team total was 44 points.

Waverly-Shell Rock, who boasted No. 2 singles champion Addy Huisenga, placed second (35 points). Oelwein (25.5), Charles City (16.5) and Osage (14) rounded out the team placings.