WATERTOWN, S.D. — Watertown girls tennis team is hitting its stride at the most opportunistic time of the year.
The Arrows enter the 2026 Class AA State Tennis Tournament this Thursday and Friday in Rapid City coming off their strongest showing of the fall — a fourth-place finish at the Eastern South Dakota (ESD) conference tournament. For head coach Ryan Zink and his squad, the result was a rewarding milestone for a group that spent much of the year learning on the fly.
“We’ve had a pretty good year so far,” Zink said. “We were a very young and inexperienced team going into the season, and we’ve kind of made progress throughout.”
Watertown finished the regular season with a 10-11 record, relying on players thrust into far higher lineup spots than they occupied a year ago.
Leading the charge at Flight 1 singles is freshman Elly Dingsor, who made the jump all the way from Flight 5 last season. Despite the steep step up in competition, Dingsor put together a winning record at the top spot.
“Making a jump from Flight 5 to Flight 1 is a huge, huge jump, and she has a winning record and she’s doing great,” Zink said. “And all the kids are.”
Freshman Jennika Kettwig similarly made a major leap, moving from Flight 6 last year to Flight 2 singles this fall. Sophomore Grace Pesek bumped up from Flight 4 to Flight 3 singles, while junior Victoria Bobzien stepped into Flight 4. Seventh-grader Ella Pesek holds down Flight 5 singles, and senior Abby Anderson provides veteran guidance at Flight 6.
In doubles, Dingsor and Kettwig team up at Flight 1, Grace Pesek and Bobzien play Flight 2, and Ella Pesek pairs with freshman Lillian Fox at Flight 3.
While the team experienced growing pains, their perseverance paid off at the ESD tournament, where the top doubles tandem provided one of the highlights of the season. Dingsor and Kettwig advanced all the way to the Flight 1 doubles championship match, pushing an elite Harrisburg duo to the limit.
“Our number one doubles team, Elly and Jennika, made it into the championship of ESD, so that was pretty cool,” Zink said. “They lost to Harrisburg, who I think is 23-1, and at one point they were down 6-7, so they were right in it. That was pretty fun to watch.”
The ESD tournament also showcased the mental toughness Zink has preached all season.
“The girls never give up, so that’s kind of the main thing,” Zink said. “As long as they’re competing and giving it their best, then I’m happy.”
Looking ahead to the Class AA state meet on Oct. 8-9 in Rapid City, the battle for the team title features familiar powerhouses like Sioux Falls Lincoln, Sioux Falls O’Gorman, Rapid City Stevens, and Harrisburg. But behind the top contenders lies a wide-open field where Watertown hopes to make some noise.
“There’s going to be a bunch of teams battling for fifth through tenth, 11th place,” Zink said. “Hopefully we can show up and perform like we did at ESD, or maybe even better, and see what we can do.”
Full tournament coverage, including live brackets, results, and photos, will be available at SDPB.org/Tennis.
