The season came to a screeching halt for the Minnewaska Area girls tennis team at the Section 6A Individual Tourney last Wednesday at Rogers.  The Lakers’ four entries at the individual tourney all won their first match, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

One day earlier, the Lakers fell to top-seeded Litchfield in the Section 6A Team Tournament, 7-0.  The Dragons went on to beat third-seeded Osakis for the section title, 6-1.

Litchfield also has one singles’ player and two doubles’ teams still eligible to compete in the Section 6A Individual Tourney “Final Four,” set for Tuesday (tomorrow) at Rogers.

Section 6A is possible the toughest Class A section in the state with Litchfield (ranked fourth), NLS (fifth) and Osakis (seventh) among the eight schools.

The Lakers, who will graduate just three seniors from this year’s team, won the WCC title this fall with a perfect 8-0 record and finished the season with an overall record of 9-10.

Litchfield 7, Lakers 0

The Minnewaska Area girls tennis team was eliminated from the team portion of the Section 6A Tourney with a 7-0 loss to top-seeded Litchfield last Tuesday at Rogers.

Litchfield went on to earn the section title with a 6-1 victory over third-seeded Osakis later in the day.  The Dragons also won the section title last year before going on to place second during the Class A State Tourney.

Katy Vold and Avarie Uhde, playing at third doubles, came the closest to picking up a point for the Lakers, losing in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 tiebreaker.

Megan Thorfinnson fell 6-4, 6-2 at first singles, while Grace Jensen and Zoey Elwood had their 13-match winning streak snapped with a 6-2, 6-3 loss at second doubles.

In the other four matches, the Lakers were unable to win more than four total games.

Litchfield has been rated among the top five teams in state Class A all season, including a current ranking of fourth.  NLS, which lost to Osakis in the Section 6A semifinals, 5-2, was seeded fifth to end the year and the Silverstreaks were ranked seventh, meaning three of the top seven teams in state Class A were from the Lakers’ section.

6A Individual Tourney

The Lakers had six players take part in the Section 6A Individual Tournament at Rogers last Wednesday.  All of the Lakers’ entries won their first match, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Megan Thorfinnson was seeded fifth in the singles’ tourney.  She won her first match over the 12th-seeded player from St. John’s Prep (6-2, 6-0) before losing to the fourth seed from NLS (6-1, 6-2).

Alia Randt earned the seventh seed and she routed the 10th seed from Melrose in the opening round (6-0, 6-1) before losing a close three-set match to the second seed from Sauk Centre (6-1, 5-7, 6-4).

Thorfinnson ends her sophomore season with an 11-13 record, while Randt, a freshman, finished the season 10-14.

In doubles, Sydney Dahl and Olivia Bleick were seeded sixth and they easily won their first-round match over the 11th seed from Sauk Centre (6-2, 6-1) before losing to the third-seeded team from NLS (6-0, 6-2).

Grace Jensen and Zoey Elwood meanwhile, were seeded seventh, and they won their first match against the 10th seed from BBE (7-5, 6-4) before losing to the second seeded team from Litchfield (6-1, 6-0).

Jensen (17-5) and Elwood (16-8) finished their senior seasons with the top records for the Lakers, while Dahl, a sophomore, finished 13-11 and Bleick, a senior, closed out her final high school season with a 12-11 mark.

Litchfield has one singles’ player and two doubles’ teams left, while Osakis, Sauk Centre and NLS also have players still in contention for state berths. 

Litchfield 7, Minnewaska 0

SINGLES results: 

(1) Ryanna Steinhaus, Litch def Megan Thorfinnson 6-4, 6-2  (2) Karlee Prahl, Litch def Alia Randt 6-0, 6-3  (3) Isla Dille, Litch def Olivia Danielson 6-0, 6-1  (4) Kaitlyn Palmer, Litch def Jayda Kolstoe 6-3, 6-1

DOUBLES results:  

(1)  Lauren Erickson-Olivia Olson, Litch def Olivia Bleick-Sydney Dahl 6-0, 6-3  (2) Sophie Stilwell-Trinity Hawes, Litch def Grace Jensen-Zoey Elwood 6-2, 6-3  (3) Amelia Benson-Emma Anderson, Litch def Katy Vold-Avarie Uhde 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 tiebreaker

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at Section 6A Individuals

SINGLES results: 

•  Megan Thorfinnson, #5-seed, def Nina Hochenauer, SJP 6-2, 6-0; lost to #4-Mya Mayhew, NLS 6-1, 6-2 (eliminated)

•  Alia Randt, #7-seed, def Alexis Baumann, Mel 6-0, 6-1; lost to #2-Hailey Hokanson, SC 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 (eliminated)

Final four: #1-Leah Maddock, Osakis-#4-Mayhew, NLS; #2-Hokanson, SC-#3-Isla Dille, Litch

DOUBLES results:  

•  Sydney Dahl-Olivia Bleick, #6 seed, def Addy Hoffman-Emma Klaphake, SC 6-2, 6-1; lost to #3-Delaney Hanson-Brooke Adelman 6-0, 6-2 (eliminated)

•  Grace Jensen-Zoey Elwood, #7 seed, def Tiyana Schwinghammer-Presley Defloff, BBE 7-5, 6-4; lost to #2-Lauren Erickson-Olivia Olson, Litch 6-1, 6-0 (eliminated)

Final four:  #1-Karlee Prahl-Ryanna Steinhaus, Litch-#5-Ellie George-Madeline Anderson, Osakis; #2-Erickson-Olson, Litch-#3-Hanson-Adelman, NLS