Tennis: Ritger garners tennis honor

When Douglas senior Amelia Ritger stepped on the tennis court her first high school match back in 2007, she started winning.

Using her disarmingly patient game of diffusion, she never really stopped winning.

Last month, Ritger put the wraps on her high school career with her third regional title.

A loss in the first round of state set her career record at 147-7, which represents the best winning percentage (0.955) in the girls' tennis program's history.

She also qualified for state (four times) more than any other player in school history and won the regional title (three times) more than any other player in school history.

Her 73-match unbeaten streak against Northern Nevada opponents (yes, 73, she didn't lose until two weeks into her third season) is also a school record, as were her three Regional No. 1 seeds.

In the girls' record books, she's also the only player to post two unbeaten seasons through the regional championship.

But, for all the accolades and records, there was one award that had somehow eluded Ritger. That is, until Thursday evening.

Coaches around the Northern 4A named Ritger the Regional Girls' Tennis Player of the Year Thursday (Douglas boys' standout James TenBroeck, who won his second-consecutive regional title this year, won the boys' award).

Ritger also earned first-team all-region honors for the fourth consecutive season.

The funny thing, though, is that Ritger points to two losses during the junior year as, for lack of a better phrase, the high points in her career.

The first was a loss at Galena in the second week of the 2009 season, which brought an end to the 73-match unbeaten streak. The season came in the 2009 regional title match against teammate Kari TenBroeck.

"The pressure was just insane," Ritger said. "My freshman and sophomore years, keeping that streak alive was constantly on my mind.

"After that first loss, and then losing to Kari, it made tennis more fun for me. All the pressure just disappeared. It's like there was still a target on my back, but it made things more interesting.

"It made me a better player. I'm not sure if it made me more competitive, I guess in a way I was less competitive. It just became about having fun for me. If I lost, it was going to be OK. Before losing, it sounds weird, but I guess I didn't know I could bounce back."

Having that burden lifted early in the 2009 season allowed her to appreciate what TenBroeck, then a freshman, was able to accomplish during the regional finals that same year.

"I was really proud that Douglas was able to take the title for the third consecutive year," Ritger said. "It gave me a lot of perspective. It showed me that I wasn't the best anymore and it put me in my place.

"It made me work harder to not let that happen again, but in my head, I would've been fine if Kari had been able to win it again this year. She works really hard and she's a great player."

As it was, TenBroeck fell in the regional quarterfinals this year after suffering an exceptionally tough draw heading into the tournament.

Ritger, meanwhile, fought through some bumps and bruises, some fatigue and even some cramping that nearly forced her to withdraw from the title match before ultimately claiming her third title in four years.

She credited her two coaches along the way -- Douglas coach Roger Rusmisel and private instructor Bill Welch, who has also instructed both TenBroecks, along with many of Douglas' top players in the past -- for much of her success on the court.

"Coach Rusmisel stressed sportsmanship so much with us," Ritger said. "He wanted us to be fair with our opponents always. If a ball looked evenly slightly like it could have been in, he taught us to call it in. A lot of my success, a big part of why this team has been successful since he took over is because of that culture of sportsmanship he's created.

"He helped me through the record . He pushed me, but he also gave me my space when I needed it. He inspired me to get back in the game when I was down."

"The way he taught also caused me to focus on what was going on in the big picture. I started seeing how hard other schools were preparing to face me, and how even winning one game against me gave them so much confidence. I'm proud that I was able to help push other players to be better and to help raise the level of competition in this area.

"Tennis is just a whole lot of fun. Being a part of a team was a lot of fun for me. Regionals and state were just icing on the cake for me. Knowing I can look back later in life and say I did what I did, that's a great thing."

Welch, who started working with Ritger when her family moved to Carson Valley when she was in middle school, became her ace in the hole.

"Everyone always asks me what country club I'm with and I just say 'Oh, it's just Bill,'" Ritger said. "They never know what I'm talking about. It is awesome coming from a rural area, Bill isn't affiliated with any country club, but you see the way his players have performed.

"He produces tough competitors across the board. It will be awesome to see who else comes along down the road. There are a few kids he's working with that will be very good.

"For me, he's been my inspiration. He taught me everything about tennis and I wouldn't have been here, having gotten this far, without him."

While she's experienced success on the court, Ritger is far from a one-trick pony.

She ranks second academically in her senior class and earned a trip to the national speech and debate championships last year -- a feat she hopes to repeat this year.

She's active in 4-H and a number of other extracurricular clubs while she's taking a full slate of advanced-placement courses.

Ritger has delayed making a decision on where she'll go to college, although she said would like to play tennis in some form.

"I have an idea, but it's going to depend on how the year plays out," she said. "My dream school would be Dartmouth, but that's a place I probably wouldn't be able to play tennis. I wouldn't have time with the things I want to do in class."

"University of San Diego is probably more realistic, and it's possible to study in the field I'm interested in and still play tennis as well.

"There are some East Coast schools that I'm interested in. If it's a Divison I school, I probably wouldn't play interscholastically, just intramurals or club sports or something. If it's something more like a Division III school, I'd probably play."

Ritger said she wants to get into biomechanical engineering with an emphasis in marine biology.

"There's a lot of deep sea research you can do, look for cures for cancer in deep sea sponges and things," she said. "That's very interesting to me. I like viruses and vaccines. We'll see how it goes. It's something that could easily change for me."

Joey Crandall can be reached at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.