#6E Sam Coit/Sara Gilbertson beat #4W Keely Kleven/Kayla Barstad (Williston) 6-1, 7-5

#6E Sam Coit/Sara Gilbertson lost to #4E Maddie Comeau/Katie Sween (Grand Forks Central) 6-3, 7-6(3)

 

#3E Clarissa Olson/Reagan Ingstad beat #1 Maddie Anderson/Alexis Caoili (Grand Forks Red River) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2

 

#3E Clarissa Olson/Reagan Ingstad lost to Mary Roller/Alicia Beck (Bismarck St. Mary)  6-2, 6-2

Sam and Sara consolidated their first round victory over the West’s #3 yesterday with a big victory over the West’s #4 today.  In their consolation semifinals, Sara and Sam played very well against Grand Forks Central’s #1 team.  They saved 8 match points and forced a 2nd set tie-breaker.  Coach Schaack was at that match and said that in Sara’s last match, she left it all on the court, playing her best match ever.  She played with no regrets.  Sara finished her career with Sam as a top 8 doubles team in the state.  These two finished higher at the state than any boys or girls VCHS tennis player has in the last 8 years.  Very impressive and deserving.  I as a coach am very grateful to have been a part of Sara’s life over her high school career.  I will miss her and her teammates will miss her deeply, especially her twin, Sam Coit.

 

 

In the semifinals, Claire and Reagan played the same Red River team as last weekends regional tournament where they lost 6-1, 6-1.  We had no pressure on us; we weren’t supposed to win this match.  Reagan and Claire started the match and just played tennis.  They played aggressive, smart tennis.  If they made an error or mental mistake, they moved on and never got frustrated.  They always believed.  They won the first set.  We did more of the same in the 2nd set, but Red River upped their games and won the last four games of the set after falling behind 5-3.  In the 3rd set, we were the more consistent team.  The pressure didn’t get to us at all.  Both Reagan and Claire got balls back that they had no business getting to and hitting aggressively.  They put the points away that they should have.  Again, our no pressure, loose play propelled us into the state championship.  

 

In the state championship, Beck and Roller from Saint Mary’s were very tough.  Their serves were faster than we have seen.  Their offensive game was very powerful and their touch was the best that I’ve seen as a coach.  We put up a great fight against them, winning two games a set and going to several other deuces, but all the credit goes to Saint Mary’s on their championship.  Congrats to Reagan and Claire on the State Runner-Up finish and All-State!  

 

 

Its not the end results of our season as a team and individuals that makes our team successful.  Its the lessons that we learned along the way.  Its the growth that our team has made as individuals and as part of a team.  Schools do not support activities for championships.  Schools support activities because they know that there are life lessons to be learned in sports (during winning and losing seasons) that cannot be taught within the walls of the school.  We might have had a successful season based on results, but I think we had a more successful season as STUDENT athletes.  Again, I am very proud of our team.  We had an amazing year.  I won’t be sad because its over; I’ll smile because it happened.

 

I LOVE BEING A HI-LINER!!

Coach Nielson