Abby Hover hits the ball at the net during an Aug. 30, 2023, practice at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The Raider junior is a two-time DODEA European doubles champion and is defending her title from last year with partner Alisa Dietzel. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
The Kaiserslautern junior girl triumvirate of Stella Schmitz, Abby Hover and Alisa Dietzel have been close since the get-go.
So, when the lineup was changed heading into their sophomore campaign, the top doubles team didn’t miss a beat. Out stepped Schmitz and in stepped Dietzel to team up with Hover, and the move ended in the same result: a DODEA European crown in doubles.
This Thursday through Saturday at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany, Hover and Dietzel enter as the favorites to give the Raiders a three-peat in the doubles competition. And the duo will be banking on their friendship to make that the case.
“We’re good friends outside of tennis, too,” Dietzel said. “So, we can put that to use when we’re together on the court.
“(At first I was) kind of nervous because it was unknown, a new thing. I just worked through it. It ended up being lots of fun.”
Kaiserslautern’s Alisa Dietzel returns the ball during a doubles match against Vicenza at the DODEA European tennis championships on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Kasierslautern’s Abigail Hover, left, and Alisa Dietzel won their first doubles title at the DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Hover and Dietzel defeated Stuttgart’s Devin and Kiera French, 6-1, 6-3. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
The one advantage Hover and Dietzel have this year over last is experience.
Their sophomore campaign was marred by Hover’s shoulder injury. She and Dietzel played only two regular-season matches before competing as the third seed in the tournament, where they swept their way to the title.
This fall, the two have gotten in eight matches, winning all. They have lost just four games all year – all coming in two matches against Ansbach’s Meredith Maxwell and Elizabeth Agudzi-Addo, neither of whom are in the doubles field.
“The hardest part was overcoming my shoulder injury last year,” Hover said of her partnership with Dietzel. “We didn’t get to play that much together, but when we did it was a lot of fun and we ended up winning Euros.”
Between the friendship and the experience on the court, both players said they complement each other well on and off the court. They trust each other to make the right moves at the net while banking on the other to mop up in the back when necessary.
“We both have our strengths and weaknesses,” Hover said. “I feel like where Alisa’s strong, I’m weak and where I’m strong, she’s weak …”
“It balances out,” Dietzel interjected to assist.
This week, Hover and Dietzel will need to bank on that as they face off against mostly new competition. The Kaiserslautern doubles pair have faced third-seed Elizabeth Petrich and Maddison Beedham of Lakenheath twice (6-0, 6-0 on Sept. 30 and Oct. 7) and fifth-seed Bella Rainey and Samaire Fleming of Wiesbaden (6-0, 6-0 on Sept. 16) already this fall.
Those pairs are in the other group in pool play, however. The four teams in their pool – Abigail and Esme Halttunen of Brussels, Andrea Mayounga and Aleczandria Rodriguez of Naples, Chiara D’Arrigo and Marina Torrente of SHAPE and Sarah McGovern and Ava Parker of Vicenza – are new opponents, although Abigail Halttunen squared off with them at last year’s European tournament in an 8-1 result for the Raiders.
Not that it troubles the Kaiserslautern duo one bit. In fact, Hover said she enjoys the unknown factor of the European tournament.
“We’re both really excited for Thursday,” Hover said. “It’s always such a fun experience at the courts to see everybody play, watching other people play. I think that’s the most fun.”
DODEA-Europe championship seeding
Thursday through Saturday in Wiesbaden, Germany
Boys
Singles
1. Tristan Chandler (Ramstein), 2. Leonardo Proietti (Marymount), 3. Jace Martin (Kaiserslautern), 4. Sam Grady (Vicenza), 5. Alejandro Cuesta (SHAPE), 6. Cameron Holloway (Vilseck), 7. Ja’Cori Thomas (Bahrain), 8. Owen Watts (Spangdahlem), 9. Hudson Hulet (Spangdahlem), 10. Ethan Na (Wiesbaden).
Doubles
1. Zach Call/Hunter Leslie-Person (Stuttgart), 2. Eric Kim/Sean Kim (Ramstein), 3. Tavi Shah/Kai Baraniak (Naples), 4. Jonathan Soito/Calvin Moncada (Lakenheath), 5. Isaac Holly/Bryan Oh (Kaiserslautern), 6. Mathew Mendoza/Carson Owens (Bahrain), 7. Maxwell Mercado/Kennan Hager (Sigonella), 8. Andrew Reed/Jacob McGovern (Vicenza), 9. Kayden Ballard/Jack Bishop (Wiesbaden), 10. Bobby Lovallo/Jack Lovallo (Ansbach).
Girls
Singles
1. Stella Schmitz (Kaiserslautern), 2. Charlize Caro (Sigonella), 3. Isabel Williams (Stuttgart), 4. Delia Gordon (Vicenza), 5. Georgia Bourtzi (SHAPE), 6. Meredith Maxwell (Ansbach), 7. Liliana Stutzman (Naples), 8 Emma Singletary (Ramstein), 9. Zoe Crawford (Vilseck), 10. Riley Thomas (Brussels).
Doubles
1. Alisa Dietzel/Abby Hover (Kaiserslautern), 2. Annika Svenson/Addie Wilson (Vicenza), 3. Elisabeth Petrich/Maddison Beedham (Lakenheath), 4. Abigial and Esme Halttunen (Brussels), 5. Bella Rainey/Samaire Fleming (Wiesbaden), 6. Andrea Mayounga/Aleczandria Rodriguez (Naples), 7. Gracey Basgall/Allison Hayes (Stuttgart), 8. Chiara D’Arrigo/Marina Torrente (SHAPE), 9. Sandrine Bennett/Natalie Moran (Spangdahlem), 10. Sarah McGovern/Ava Parker (Vicenza).