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Stover takes over for FD girls

A familiar name takes over the Fort Dodge girls tennis program this year, as Martha Stover replaces Karine Feddersen as head coach.

Stover, a former Dodger standout player herself, inherits a group of 19 total including four letterwinners.

Seniors Brianna Barkema Emily Knight and Mackenzie Elsbecker, along with sophomore Gretta Leigh, will form part of the varsity lineup for Fort Dodge.

Knight was a state doubles qualifier with Kari Grindberg a season ago. She placed eighth as a sophomore alongside Grindberg at state.

“I am looking for our four returning letterwinners to really lead the way and guide the younger players,” Stover said. “We are going to be a very young team, but I feel like we have a great group of leaders in our seniors.”

Fort Dodge will need to fill the remaining holes in the rotation out with newcomers, as sophomores Anna Bruen, Cate Hatton and Noelle Barber, along with freshman Beth Murman, are early leaders.

“Not many of the girls play during the offseason, but they are hard workers who compete in several sports,” Stover said. “We’ve also got some kids who are out because they just want to try tennis. Hopefully they’ll enjoy it and stick with it.”

With the size of the roster Stover has to work with, she expects everybody to be playing each night the Dodgers have a meet.

“The amount of kids we have out makes it nice because everyone is going to see the court when we have varsity/junior varsity duals,” Stover said. “We’ll be able to make a lot of strides as the season progresses because the girls will be playing a lot of matches in a short amount of time.”

Juniors Raelinn Spears, Kaylie Dahlgren, Maddly Fleming and Libby Lentsch, 10th-graders Alexis Erikson, Brenna Williams and Mason Gotto, along with freshmen Marissa Richardson, Michelle Chen, Samantha Brown and Brookelynne Hemrick round out the roster.

Fort Dodge opens its season April 7 at Dowling.

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