SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – They say the 3rd time is a charm…
And that saying surely applied to Eloise Geraets of Lincoln Friday when she finished her tennis career with the first flight singles championship.
Mark Ovenden has more on our Karl’s TV & Appliance Athlete of the Week.
Tom Krueger, Lincoln Tennis Coach says, “She knows what the key to success is and she knows she came up short 2 years in a row, so this is what I need to do.”
And what she did was put on a dominant performance against her good friend Nora Krajewski of Yankton, whom she’d defeated during the regular season but lost in the #1 flight singles championship match each of the last 2 years.
Eloise Geraets, Lincoln Senior says, “I mean my goal was to stay loose and just play my game. Stay aggressive and know I just had to be patient. She has a really good lob so I coudn’t come up too much. But I had to stay patient and work my way up slowly.”
It came as no surprise to those who’ve followed her career. Making the state title match 3 years in a row speaks for itself. But it’s what Eloise did off the court that impressed Tom Krueger the most.
Krueger says, “She really stepped up as a leader this year. There were times when I had to have conversations with other players and had something else going on and I’d look over on the other court and Eloise has the whole team rounded up and they’re doing all right what the best part of your day and the worst part of your day. She takes charge of stuff without being bossy. She wants to be a good role model to these other kids and I want to be somebody they want to look up to and so she behaves in a way that they respect her and they look up to her.”
And they were all cheering for her in that championship match, knowing how much it meant to the senior who was playing her final competitive tennis matches that day for a program that not only is tremendously successful on the court, but prepares the athletes for life after tennis.
Eloise says, “It’s a lot of fun I mean we’ve got great players and I love my team. They’re super sweet and the boys team is super successful too. It’s fun being successful but it’s the players who make it the best.”
In addition to being a great player and leader, Eloise wanted to make sure all of her teammates were having fun on the court, which generally leads to better play as well.
Krueger says, “She’s even said so many times that we’re having so much fun this year and her spunkiness as you say is a big driver of that. She’s just fun to be around. She loves tennis, she loves her team and she makes tennis and team tennis fun,”
So why would you walk away from a game you love so much?
Eloise says, “Um I don’t know. I want to go far and I ended on a high. So I think I’m just going to stick with that.”
So the 3rd time was indeed the charm in her final singles match ever. Ending her career having a blast!
Copyright 2025 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.