Bailey wins in straight sets, but Lady Zs fall to Whitko

Back for second stint, Atkinson looks ahead to future of program

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Olivia Bailey

SOUTH WHITLEY — After taking a year off, Rochester senior Olivia Bailey has come back a better, more patient tennis player, according to coach Jesse Atkinson.

Bailey showed off that patience in a 6-3, 6-3 win over Whitko’s Alexa Culp at No. 1 singles in a dual between the teams Wednesday, but Whitko won the other matches in a 4-1 win.

Ellie Straeter lost 6-1, 7-5 to Audrey Watmough at No. 2 singles, Emma Murphy lost 6-0, 6-1 to Andrea Werstler at No. 3 singles.

At No. 1 doubles, J.J. Graber and Abriella St. Martin lost to Grace Burnworth and Catherine Deckena 6-0, 6-2, and Whitko’s Lillian Coil and Hannah Moore claimed a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles over Hailey Crissinger and Ella Ramsey.

Bailey was precise with her groundstrokes and put Culp in uncomfortable spots on the court, drawing frequent errors.

“What Olivia does when she gets out on the court is she understands the grind, and she understands she’s playing the opposing team’s best every single night, but she’s willing to be the more patient player. She’s willing to take a few more shots to set up the shot she really wants to hit. You can’t replace that, right? That’s what any tennis coach on the planet is after.”

Straeter battled back after losing the first set and was within a game of winning the second, but Watmough’s hard, aggressive serving was difficult to corral.

“She had a great serve,” Atkinson said of Watmough. “She could move it around the box, and that’s tough. It really is. In the second set, she handled it way better than she did in the first set. She kind of settled in and played tennis at the level that I think I would come to expect Ellie to play. But when it came down to it, her opponent was able to convert on some really good serves down the stretch.”

Graber, a junior who transferred to Rochester from Goshen last summer, is a newcomer to tennis. She is paired with St. Martin, a varsity veteran.

“Her tennis background was none,” a smiling Atkinson said. “She has no background in tennis. She is an athlete that came to us. Her main sport is volleyball. What we see from J.J. every single day in practice, after practice and on the weekends, she’s kind of giving me shades of (former Lady Z) Rosalie Navarro, where you can’t get her away from the tennis courts. And that’s fine by me.

“She’s doing a great job. She wants to get better. She wants to do it the right way. I think her and Abbi St. Martin do a great job together. They communicate very well. They’re patient with each other. Because realistically, neither have a ton of experience at the varsity level. They’re very patient. They’re very realistic with their expectations, and I think they do a great job of chunking in terms of we want to do this. This is our focus. And so that becomes their almost obsession, right? Within a game or within a set. And I love it. It’s kind of fun to watch – two kids that have really embraced the fact that we’re not world beaters today, but we want to get better today, and they’re doing a great job.”

Atkinson is in his first season of his second stint as coach. He also coached the team from 2014-22, and he previously spent time as an assistant under his mother Tammy Hooker. 

Adrian Paulik coached the team from 2023-25 but stepped down to spend more time with her family.

Atkinson raved about what Paulik did for the program, and he joked that current players often responded with sentences that began “Coach Paulik would say…” whenever he doles out coaching advice that might differ from what they heard in the past.

Atkinson coached Rochester to back-to-back sectional titles in 2016 and 2017. They remain the only sectional titles in school history.

“It truly is great to be back,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson was asked if the program could once again produce players like Zoe Bixler and Allie Bickle, who were the top two singles players from the 2016 and 2017 teams.

“There’s no doubt in my mind,” Atkinson said. “She’s out there. They’re out there, right? For sure. We’ve got our eyes on a couple girls looking ahead and planning for the future. A lot of things have to go right because those were outstanding players. There’s no doubt about it. But the potential is absolutely there. We 100 percent have the potential to reach that level. A lot of things have to go right, and I don’t think these girls are afraid of that work that has to go in to get to that place.”

Whitko also won the JV match 4-0.

Rochester dropped to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the Three Rivers Conference. They will host Tippecanoe Valley at 5:30 p.m. today.

Results: Whitko 4, Rochester 1

Singles

Olivia Bailey (RHS) def. Alexa Culp (WHI), 6-3, 6-3

Audrey Watmough (WHI) def. Ellie Straeter (RHS), 6-1, 7-5

Andrea Werstler (WHI) def. Emma Murphy (RHS), 6-0, 6-1

Doubles

Grace Burnworth-Catherine Deckena (WHI) def. J.J. Graber-Abriella St. Martin (RHS), 6-0, 6-2

Lillian Coil-Hannah Moore (WHI) def. Hailey Crissinger-Ella Ramsey (RHS), 6-0, 6-1

JV results: Whitko 4, Rochester 0

Singles

Shelby Pearson (RHS) lost 8-1.

Liz Brower (RHS) lost 8-1.

Savannah Wolters (RHS) lost 8-7 (5).

Sophia Clapper-Raylee Fry (RHS) lost 8-2.