Megan Thorfinnson and Alia Randt earned a trip to the State Girls Tennis Tournament by winning the Section 6A Girls Tennis doubles’ title last Tuesday at Rogers.

Thorfinnson and Randt placed third at last year’s section tourney.  Several other Lakers came very close to joining them at the state meet as Olivia Danielson placed third in singles, but was unable to play for true-second, and the doubles’ team of Rachel Rankin and Avarie Uhde lost a tight three-setter in the true-second match to also place third.

A week earlier in the team tourney, the Lakers fell to Litchfield in the Section 6A championship match, 5-2.  Minnewaska Area finished the team portion of its season with a 19-4 overall record, which included an 8-0 mark in the WCC to win a 10th-straight conference title.

Montevideo, which won the Section 3A title to advance to state, was second in the conference with a 7-1 record, followed by LQP-DB (6-2), Benson-KMS (5-3), Morris Area-WCA (4-4), YME (3-5), Melrose Area and Sauk Centre (both 2-6) and MACCRAY (0-8).

Randt (25-9 record) and Thorfinnson (28-6), who normally play first and second singles for the Lakers, will compete at the State Tennis Tourney, Oct. 24-25 at the Read-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.  The State Team Tourney is set for Oct. 22-23 at the same venue.

Thorfinnson and Randt earned the third seed in the Class A Individual Tourney and were set to play a duo from Cannon Falls in the opener at 10 a.m.

Danielson closed out her season with a 31-3 record, while Rankin finished 30-5 and Uhde 27-8.  Thorfinnson and Uhde are seniors, while Danielson and Randt are juniors and Rankin is a sophomore.

Individual first rounds

The Lakers advanced five players to the Final Four after they had won their first two matches during the Section 6A Individual Tourney at Rogers, Oct. 9.

Megan Thorfinnson and Alia Randt went 2-0 to reach the doubles’ semifinals, while Rachel Rankin and Avarie Uhde also went 2-0.

In singles, Katy Vold fell in the first round to a player from NLS, while Olivia Danielson won both of her matches to advance to the semifinals where she was set to face the top seed.

Final Four results

The players returned to Rogers last Tuesday for the Section 6A Individual Final Four.  Megan Thorfinnson and Alia Randt beat teammates Rachel Rankin and Avarie Uhde in the doubles’ semifinals, 6-0, 6-0 and then won the section title with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Litchfield’s Molly Patten and Emma Knudsen.

It’s the first state berth for Thorfinnson and Randt.  It was also unofficially the 90th career win for Thorfinnson, while Randt has an unofficial 83 career victories with one year to go.

After losing to their teammates, Rankin and Uhde won the third-place match over the Wuotila sisters from Litchfield, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.  And, when Thorfinnson and Randt won the section title, Rankin and Uhde also earned a chance at true-second.

With the winner advancing to state, Rankin and Uhde won the first set before losing in three, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.

In singles, Olivia Danielson fell to the top-seed from Osakis in the semifinals, 6-1, 6-1, but came back to win the third-place match over a player from Melrose, 6-1, 6-0.

Leah Maddock, the top seed from Osakis, lost to Litchfield’s Isla Dille in the finals, 6-4, 6-0, preventing Danielson from a chance at true-second.  Dille is a sophomore and Maddock is a junior.

Section 6A Individuals

Minnewaska results:

SINGLES results: 

•  Olivia Danielson, Min def Addison Kemper, Melrose 6-0, 6-1; def Ari Surma, SJP 6-0, 6-4

•  Katy Vold, Min lost to Emma Freidel, NLS 6-3, 6-3 (eliminated)

•  FINAL FOUR:  #1-Leah Maddock, Osakis def Olivia Danielson, Min 6-1, 6-1; #2-Isla Dille, Litch def Rachel Welle, Mel 6-0, 6-0

Championship:  Dille, Litch def Maddock, Osakis 6-4, 6-0 . . . Third place:  Olivia Danielson, Min def Welle, Melrose 6-1, 6-0

DOUBLES results:  

•  Megan Thorfinnson-Alia Randt, Min def Ramona Lurken-Tvrdik-Jenna Butkowski, Melrose 6-0, 6-1; def Ava Drevlow-Maddi Bouldin, Osakis 6-2, 6-0

•  Avarie Uhde-Rachel Rankin, Min def Ellan Fischer-Grace Berndt, BBE 6-0, 6-0; def Bella Weisser-Jaclyn Dietrich, Osakis 6-1, 6-0

•  FINAL FOUR:  #1-Megan Thorfinnson-Alia Randt, Min def Rachel Rankin-Avarie Uhde, Min 6-0, 6-0; #2-Molly Patten-Emma Knudsen, Litch def Maya Wuotila-Emma Wuotila, Litch 6-0, 7-6 (7-3)

Championship:  Megan Thorfinnson-Alia Randt, Min def Patten-Knudsen, Litch 6-2, 7-5 . . . Third place:  Rachel Rankin-Avarie Uhde, Min def Wuotila-Wuotila, Litch 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 . . . True-second:  Knudsen-Patten, Litch def Rankin-Uhde, Min 5-7, 6-3, 6-1

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