Kankakee Valley High School

Cold wind gusts blew as the girls decorated the sidewalk in colorful chalk designs to honor the four seniors on the tennis team for the 2026 season: Addy Arnett, Elise Brewster, Sophia LeGrand, and Emmie Pryzybylski. The seniors were honored last Friday with a team meal and gave their speeches as well. Today, parents and players worked together to hang up signs on the fences and a table displayed flowers and metals. Announcements honored the girls, talked about their futures, and even highlighted some teachers from around the school that really impacted them. After posing for some photos, matches were to begin! On the varsity side, doubles varsity players Emmie and Sophia (with their non-senior partners Rheyna and Maci), had very successful matches even with the breeze getting increasingly colder and more unpredictable. They were able to watch and support the other matches continuing on, like #2 singles Izzy Jones and #3 singles Maggie Norwine. The latter of the two even went into a tie breaker during the first set, showing just how competitive the match was between the two. Merrillville had seven players, so for our two other seniors, Coach DeVries got creative. Addy Arnett squared off against fellow Kougar Kailynn Niemiec in two sets to six. The match was intense, with both girls always having such close matches even at practice. It was a great pair to place against one another. Elise Brewster played doubles on a neighboring court against a few of her pals. The match was short lived, as the cold and their hunger led the girls over to concessions after one set. They all were happy with this decision as they quickly enjoyed nachos and pretzels and got to bundle up better. Maggie Norwine’s match ended up lasting the longest of all the varsity matches by a wide margin. The fence was surrounded by both teams (with the Kougars bundled in blankets and shivering) to watch. After the match ceased with a victory (making the overall score 5-0), coaches shook hands and the Pirates prepared for their drive home. KV quickly dispersed too, jogging to their cars almost immediately to get out of the cold. - JV Coach Anderson