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Bulldogs eyeing 14th straigh MAC tennis crown

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By Christopher Maloney | Friday, May 09, 2008 | No comments posted

ELDRIDGE, Iowa — For 13 years, the Bettendorf girls tennis team has collected one Mississippi Athletic Conference championship after another with McGaffigans in the lineup.

Today, the Bulldogs will try to make it 14 in a row — minus a McGaffigan, Chrissie, who opted to trade the hard court for the golf green this spring.

McGaffigan, a two-time state singles champion, might be gone, but Bettendorf had no trouble Thursday, cruising through the first day of the MAC championships, placing five singles players and two doubles teams in today’s finals. Standing between the Bulldogs and No. 14 is a Clinton team that will be represented in eight of nine championship matches when the tournament resumes at the North Scott High School tennis courts.

The Bulldogs and River Queens will square off in four of six singles finals and two of three doubles championships. Clinton’s Ellen Russell could score additional points with a win over Pleasant Valley’s Chelsea Allbaugh at No. 1 singles, and Russell and teammate Claire Cornilsen will take on Allbaugh and Alisha Saigal at No. 1 doubles.

Russell, a senior, placed sixth in last year’s Class 2A state singles tournament, beating Allbaugh in the consolation round. Allbaugh, also a senior, will get two shots at Russell today.

“I think the singles match could be anybody’s match,” Allbaugh said. “With this being my last MAC conference match, I want to play my best. Looking back on this last season of tennis at PV, I also don’t have any regrets.”

And of the doubles matchup, Russell said: “We can’t be too overconfident. The winner will depend on who comes more ready to play.”

In other action Thursday: Assumption’s Casey White recovered from a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Cornilsen to rout Saigal 8-1 in the No. 2 singles consolation match; Clinton’s Katie Crites and Alyson Goetzl battled with Pleasant Valley’s Kippy Searles and Caroline Kwan in the No. 2 doubles consolation match to win 6-2, 3-6, 11-9; and Muscatine’s Amanda Safley advanced to the consolation round by defeating Burlington’s Molly Owensby 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 10-6, before finishing fourth in the No. 6 singles with a 8-0 loss to Clinton’s Sarah Massey.