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Don't expect to find Grand Island Senior High less prepared to deal with any weather conditions than its opponents.
The Islanders' coaches believe that if you'd play in certain conditions, then you practice in those conditions.
That's why you'll find the team out practicing on gusty spring days. That's why they were out last Thursday until 6:15 p.m. just like normal, even though the temperatures were in the 30s and the wild chill stayed in the 20s.
So Tuesday's home dual against Columbus might have seemed balmy to the Islanders. And they showed it by rolling to a 9-0 sweep with the temperature barely breaking 40 degrees.
"Looking at the scores, we played pretty well," Islander co-coach Scott Cowgill said. "Warming up, Columbus looked like they could keep (the ball) in play and hit pretty well. So it's a good win."
Kelsie Olson put together the lone shutout of the day. She defeated Ellen Rambour 8-0 at No. 1 singles in what Cowgill felt was an impressive effort.
"Kelsie Olson played extremely well today," Cowgill said. "This is her first win at No. 1 singles. ...Today she really came ready to play and really played well."
Grand Island's other players didn't have any close calls, either. An 8-5 win by the No. 2 doubles team of Sharon Zach and Alicia Wheeler had to fill the role of nail-biter of the day.
The win moved the Islanders to 3-0 in duals to start the season. Cowgill was happy to see that, especially with injuries hitting the team. Jenna Helleberg (rotator cuff) and Christina Bandasack (back) both missed the dual due to injuries.
"We've got a couple kids hurt," he said. "Two of our top eight were not able to play today. I wish we were full strength so we'd be more competitive and have girls fighting hard for positions in practice.
"The other players have stepped up. We're doing good things. I think they all understand what their limitations are and what they need to get better at."
The schedule gets tougher to close out the week. Grand Island goes to Lincoln Southeast on Thursday then competes in the Omaha Westside Invite on Friday.
"Southeast usually has a good team," Cowgill said. "The best teams in the state will be at Westside. We'll find out a lot there. We'll have some tough matches."
GRAND ISLAND SENIOR HIGH 9, COLUMBUS 0
Singles
No. 1 Kelsie Olson, GISH, def. Ellen Rambour, C, 8-0.
No. 2 Brigette Root, GISH, def. Lauren Lemke, C, 8-1.
No. 3 Sharon Zach, GISH, def. Lori Fehr, C, 8-3.
No. 4 Ashley Wiedel, GISH, def. Ashley Meyers, C, 8-1.
No. 5 Alicia Wheeler, GISH, def. Brittne Mahoney, C, 8-3.
No. 6 Sara Petska, GISH, def. Lori Haas, C, 8-1.
Doubles
No. 1 Olson/Root, GISH, def. Rambour/Lemke, C, 8-2.
No. 2 Zach/Wheeler, GISH, def. Fehr/Mahoney, C, 8-5.
No. 3 Wiedel/Petska, GISH, def. Meyers/Haas, C, 8-1.
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