SPEARFISH, S.D. — The final score doesn’t always tell the entire story, especially for a team trying to find its footing early in a season.
For the Spearfish Spartans girls tennis team, the first few weeks of 2026 have been about improvement.
Spearfish opened the season with seven consecutive dual losses, facing Aberdeen Roncalli, Aberdeen Central, Pierre T.F. Riggs, Huron, Rapid City Christian, St. Thomas More and Lennox. But after a difficult start, the Spartans began showing signs of progress, picking up individual victories and eventually putting together their strongest performance of the season at the Madison Girls Tennis Invitational.
So, how is the Spearfish girls tennis team doing?
Better than the early dual record might suggest.
A Difficult Opening Weekend
The Spartans were immediately tested when they opened the season Aug. 14 at Griffin Park.
Spearfish fell 7-2 to Aberdeen Roncalli before being swept 9-0 by Aberdeen Central later that day.
Less than 24 hours later, the Spartans were back on the court for two more matches.
Pierre T.F. Riggs defeated Spearfish 8-1, followed by another 8-1 loss against Huron.
That left the Spartans 0-4 after just two days, but it also gave Spearfish four full varsity matches to begin identifying where it needed to improve.
The schedule continued Aug. 17 in Rapid City.
Rapid City Christian handed Spearfish a 9-0 loss, but the Spartans responded with a more competitive showing against St. Thomas More. Spearfish won two of the nine matches before falling 7-2.
Three days later, Spearfish produced another two match victories against Lennox in a 7-2 loss.
The team results still weren’t going Spearfish’s way, but the Spartans were beginning to find more success throughout the lineup.
Progress Shows Up in Madison
The next step came at the Madison Girls Tennis Invitational on Aug. 21 and 22.
Spearfish competed in a field featuring Aberdeen Roncalli, Huron, Lennox, Madison, Milbank, Pierre T.F. Riggs, Rapid City Christian, Sioux Falls Christian and St. Thomas More.
Many of those were familiar opponents.
Instead of simply seeing them again, Spearfish had an opportunity to see how much progress it had made since the opening week.
The Spartans finished tied for fifth during the first day of the Madison Invitational before recording a first-place finish on the second day, according to the results provided by GoBound.
For a team that had spent the opening week battling through several difficult duals, the results in Madison represented a significant step forward.
The early losses were turning into experience, and the Spartans were beginning to see results from it.
Mondloch Setting the Pace
Senior Allie Mondloch has led Spearfish from the No. 1 singles position.
Mondloch has four match victories and six set victories through her first 12 matches. She has won 72 games while competing exclusively at the top of the Spartans’ lineup.
Playing No. 1 means seeing an opponent’s top singles player nearly every time out, making Mondloch’s four victories an important part of Spearfish’s early-season production.
Junior Calisa Alderson has also been one of the Spartans’ most productive players.
Alderson has primarily competed at No. 3 singles, where she has recorded three match victories, five set victories and 60 game wins. She has also competed at No. 4, adding another match victory and two set wins.
Combined between the two positions, Alderson has four singles victories.
Young Spartans Gaining Experience
The Spartans aren’t relying solely on their upperclassmen.
Freshman Ainsley Roberts has already made an impact at No. 6 singles.
Roberts has three match victories and four set victories through 11 matches, winning 57 games in her first varsity season.
Sophomore Michaela Harvey has been tasked with competing near the top of the lineup at No. 2 singles. Harvey has earned two match victories and four set wins.
Sophomore Natalie Schutz has moved between the No. 4 and No. 5 positions and has earned victories at both spots.
That experience could become increasingly important as the season continues.
Spearfish’s lineup features three seniors in Mondloch, Lydia Schutz and Adaleigh Baker, along with Alderson as a junior. Harvey, Natalie Schutz and Jaycee Krogman represent the sophomore class, while Roberts is already contributing as a freshman.
It’s a lineup that combines experience with players who are still getting accustomed to varsity competition.
Looking Beyond the Dual Record
At first glance, an 0-7 start in dual competition might make it easy to assume Spearfish has struggled without much progress.
The individual results provide more context.
Spearfish won two matches against Aberdeen Roncalli to begin the season. The Spartans managed one against Pierre and another against Huron before being shut out by Rapid City Christian.
Instead of continuing in that direction, Spearfish answered with two victories against St. Thomas More and two more against Lennox.
Then came the trip to Madison and the Spartans’ best tournament results of the season.
That’s the progression Spearfish will look to continue.
The Spartans aren’t a finished product, and there is still plenty of tennis left to play. But the first portion of the schedule has given Spearfish something valuable: experience against several programs it could see again later in the season.
For Mondloch, Alderson and the rest of the upperclassmen, the goal will be turning competitive matches into more victories.
For players such as Harvey, Natalie Schutz and Roberts, every match provides another opportunity to gain varsity experience.
And for the Spartans as a whole, Madison provided the clearest indication yet that the work is beginning to translate to the court.
Spearfish’s early record tells one part of the story.
Its improvement tells the other.