Bell helps Silver Hawks to city tennis title

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BY TOMMY DAHLK / Lincoln Journal Star

Lincoln Southwest girls tennis coach Denny Hershberger said he really didn’t know what exactly to expect coming into this season.

The Silver Hawks had many girls playing new positions and last year’s No. 1 singles standout,  Ali Bartek, couldn’t play because of a torn knee ligament she suffered during basketball season.

Although this season had a different feel, Southwest produced similar results and clinched its fifth straight city title Thursday with a 9-0 dual win against Lincoln East at Woods Tennis Center.

Junior McRae Bell, who has  filled in for Bartek this year, defeated Lincoln East freshman Stephanie Mannix 9-7. It was Bell’s second win against Mannix this year.

Bell took an early 6-3 lead, but Mannix evened things up and forced Bell to switch her strategy.

“She caught on to what I was doing and started becoming more aggressive and coming to the net,” Bell said. “So I started lobbing and hitting deeper shots so she couldn’t keep coming to the net and that worked.”

Bell didn’t expect this kind of success going into the season because she only plays tennis about 10 weeks a year. Her first love is basketball, and Bell spends most of the summer perfecting her post game rather than working on her stroke.

Last year, Bell had success playing No. 2 doubles, but said she thought she’d probably finish with a .500 record in her new role instead of only losing a couple of times.

“It was really unexpected, it just happened that way,” Bell said. “He (Hershberger) asked me if I’d take her (Bartek’s) place. I was kind of scared at first, but I thought there was nothing to lose, and I’d try my best.”

Bell said she plans to play tennis a little more after this season’s state tournament than in previous years, and Hershberger said that will only help her get better.

“She’s a great athlete and a great competitor,” Hershberger said. “You can’t teach that.”