10/19/2009 5:38:00 PM Skippers sail into state tournament
Minnetonka’s Aria Lambert, the defending Class 2A state champion and the No. 1 ranked singles player in the state, won in straight sets in the semifinals and finals. PHOTO: MATT THOMAS
By Matt Thomas
The Minnetonka girls' tennis team went into the section 2-2A tournament as heavy favorites and played the part well by defeating Shakopee and Eden Prairie on Tuesday, Oct. 14 to advance to the state tournament for the third consecutive year.
The Skippers beat Shakopee in the section semifinals by a score of 7-0. Six of the seven matches were decided in straight sets, with the No. 1 doubles match being the only contest that went to three sets.
The Skippers' strong singles lineup had no trouble with the Sabers as all four players won their matches handily.
Aria Lambert, the defending class 2A state champion and the No. 1 ranked player in the state, defeated Shakopee's Vonnick Boyogueno 6-1, 6-1.
Jessa Richards defeated Katrina Donahue 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Heather Abzug took care of Marina Timmerman 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. Bri Smith finished off the singles sweep for the Skippers with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Sam Root at No. 4 singles.
The Skippers' No. 1 doubles tandem of Noelle Wagner and Paige Baldwin had a minor hiccup in their match as they lost the second set 6-0 to Shakopee's Kayla Worm and Dannick Boyogueno.
Wagner and Baldwin rallied, however, to win the match 7-5, 0-6, 6-1.
Emily Carver and Sydney Baldwin defeated Courtney Paaverud and Heather Paaverud 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.
Maggie Kregness and Madison Rossebo had no trouble with Jenny Ernst and Krstina Worm at No. 3 doubles, winning 6-1, 6-1.
In the section final match, Eden Prairie decided to shuffle its lineup and put its top two singles players - Makenna Borg and Maddie Buxton - at the No. 1 doubles position.
That decision led to three easy victories for Lambert, Richards and Abzug at the top three singles positions for Minnetonka.
"We knew that if they shuffled their lineups that it would weaken their singles lineup," Skippers head coach Dave Stearns said. "So I decided to stay with my regular singles lineup and hope that we could sweep the singles matches."
Lambert defeated Ziyue Chen without dropping a game, 6-0, 6-0. Richards defeated Allison Malmsten 6-0, 6-1 and Abzug, like Lambert, defeated Alexa Heupel 6-0, 6-0.
With three points in the bag just 30 minutes or so into the match, the Skippers needed just one more point to close out the match and got it from their No. 2 doubles team of Carver and Sydney Baldwin.
"My No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams have been playing better and better," Stearns said. "So it wasn't really a surprise to me that they won their match.
Shortly after clinching the match, Minnetonka's got a straight set victory at No. 4 singles from Claire Pfleiderer to eventually win the match 5-2.
The Skippers now move into the state tournament where they will face the section 5-2A winners from Mounds View in the quarterfinals.
The upper portion of the class 2A state tournament bracket is absolutely loaded with the No. 3 ranked Skippers and the No. 6 ranked Mustangs meeting in the first quarterfinal.
The second quarterfinal features No. 1 ranked Edina and No. 2 ranked Rochester Mayo.
"It's a little unfortunate that the top half of the bracket is loaded so heavily because that's four of the top teams in the state," Stearns said. "With the lower bracket not having as many higher ranked teams."
No. 8 ranked Cretin-Derham Hall and unranked Rosemount will meet in one of the quarterfinal matches in the lower portion of the bracket. The teams making up the fourth and final quarterfinal had not been decided when this edition of Lakeshore Weekly News went to press.
Wayzata falls to Edina
The Wayzata girls' tennis team fell in the section 6-2A final to state power Edina by a score of 5-1.
Caitlin Eichten was the lone Trojans' player to win her match at No. 3 singles. Eichten defeated Edina's Caroline Hintz 6-2, 6-4.
The Trojans put up a good fight at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, but were unable to win either match.
Emma MacDonald and Aneesha Ahluwalia lost their match at No. 2 doubles to Jane Okerman and Minisha Lohani 7-5, 7-5.
Meredith Ries and Sloane Gallagher lost their match at No. 1 doubles to Katie Medlar and Sheri Hickey 6-2, 6-0.
No. 1 singles player Claire Elkin and No. 2 singles player Brooke Fiemann both lost their matches in straight sets.
No. 4 singles player Nirupa Galagedera had her match suspended with Molly Harris after both players had won a set.
Blake falls in section final
The Blake girls' tennis team also fell one match short of advancing to the state tournament. The Bears lost their section final match 5-2 to top seeded Mounds Park Academy.
Individual sections in progress
Lambert began her quest to defend her individual state title when she breezed through her first two section matches on Saturday, Oct. 17.
Lambert defeated Eden Prairie's Meg Lee and Orono's Victoria Barbetta by identical scores of 6-0, 6-0.
Richards also won her first two matches handily. She defeated Delano's Ellie Ross 6-0, 6-0 and Eden Prairie's Chen 6-1, 6-1.
The section 2-2A individual tournament will conclude with the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at Gustavus Adolphus College.
Lambert is scheduled to play Mankato East's Cassidy Miller in one quarterfinal, while Richards will play Shakopee's Vonnick Boyogueno in another quarterfinal.
Lambert and Richards would play each other in the semifinals if they both prevailed in the quarterfinals.
"They are both playing well, it's just unfortunate that it's very possible for them to meet in the semifinals," Stearns said. "It's possible that one of them could be looking at four matches in one day in order to qualify for the state tournament."
