Valley City finished the regular season in style, breezing past the Wahpeton Huskies 8-1 to wrap up a perfect 11-0 regular season.
With the EDC title already secured, the Hi-Liners could experiment with some line-up construction for the upcoming 3-2 match format for postseason play. Despite the roster shake-up, that didn’t stop Valley City from sweeping doubles play again, paving the way for another dominant win. Head Coach Matt Neilson talked about the different doubles pairings used for yesterday’s match, “Breck and Alyssa could be one potential doubles team in a 3-2 line-up with Abby and Ella as the other. We went with those two teams at #2 and #3 doubles to get more chemistry and experience together.”
The Hi-Liners also made some slight adjustments to their singles lineup for their matchup, with Kailee Neilson, Georgia Zaun, and Abby Martineck occupying the top three slots. Much like doubles play, singles play offered very little resistance for Valley City, with the Hi-Liners winning five of their six singles matchups.
Neilson shared his thoughts about the play of his top three singles players: “Abby, Georgia, and Skye. From the first point to the last point, you could see that they had 100% control of their matches. Abby’s approaches and net play were superb. Georgia played fluidly and hit her angled approach shots. Skye set her feet and attacked, putting heavy, deep top spin that her opponent couldn’t handle.”
The one blemish on Valley City’s record came in singles #6 when Alyssa Thomsen lost to Wahpeton’s Chloe Bochat in three sets. This was Thomsen’s first singles match of the season, as the senior is usually a double specialist for the team. Neilson said that even though the result did not go as desired, it gave the coaching staff an idea of what to improve before postseason play begins.
The Hi-Liners’ next game will be in the EDC regional tournament next Thursday, where they’ll play the eighth seed in the first round. The eighth seed will be determined by a play-in match on Monday between Fargo South and the loser of tomorrow’s match between Fargo North and West Fargo.
Results: Valley City listed first
Valley City– 8
Wahpeton – 1
Singles:
- Kailee Nielson defeated Brenna Erdmann 7-5, 6-1
- Abby Martineck defeated Carmen Burvee 6-0, 6-1
- Georgia Zaun defeated Julya Seibold 6-0, 6-0
- Skye Nielson defeated Breelyn Lacina 6-0, 6-0
- Ella Olson defeated Gina Quamme 6-1, 6-3
- Alyssa Thomsen lost to Chloe Bochat 5-7, 6-4, 10-7
Doubles:
- K. Nielson/Zaun defeated Erdmann/Burvee 6-4, 6-3
- Breck Sufficool/Thomsen defeated Seibold/Quamme 6-0, 6-1
- Martineck/Olson defeated Lacina/Bochat 6-0, 6-0
Photos courtesy of Brent Thomsen