Megan Thorfinnson and Alia Randt highlighted a great season of Laker girls tennis by placing fourth at the State Class A Doubles’ Tourney.  

Thorfinnson and Randt came into the tourney as the third seed and the two Lakers lived up to their billing by winning two easy matches during the first two rounds, Thursday at the Read-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.  However, the Laker duo went 0-2 during the second day, Friday, including a tiebreaker loss in the third-pace match, to place fourth of 16 teams.

The other top-four seeds all lost in the first round of the doubles’ tourney, including the top-seeded pair from Blake, which lost to a team from LQP-DB in three sets.

Thorfinnson and Randt, who placed third at last year’s section tourney and earned fourth at sections in 2022, took advantage of their first state trip by playing some of the best tennis they’ve played, according to coach Tara Reichmann.  “The girls had a good tournament and played some solid tennis,” coach Reichmann said.  “There were so many good teams that we weren’t too surprised at some of the early upsets.”

Thorfinnson and Randt beat a pair from Cannon Falls in the opener, 6-1, 6-1, ad then edged a duo from Blake (7-5, 6-2) to reach the semifinals.

The Laker pair was back at the Tennis Center bright and early, Friday morning, for the semifinals at 8 a.m.  They were joined by a duo from Lake City and two doubles’ teams from Maple River.

Thorfinnson and Randt lost in the semifinals to a team from Maple River, 7-5, 6-0 and also fell in a very close match for third to Therese Bauer and Rylee Thieren of Lake City, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7).

“We had our chances in both matches, but came up just short,” coach Reichmann said.  “It was a fun two days of tennis and there were so many great players there that we were happy to leave with the fourth-place medals.  The girls had a very good season.”

Thorfinnson ended the season with an unofficial 30-8 record while Randt closed out her junior year 27-11.  Thorfinnson also closed out her high school career with 92 victories while Randt has an unofficial 85 career wins with one year to go.

•  Litchfield also competed in the State Class A Team Tournament, going 2-1 to place second.  The Dragons beat Montevideo in the first round and Crookston in the semifinals before losing to Blake in the championship match, 6-1.

Litchfield edged the Lakers in the Section 6A title match, 5-2, after beating Minnewaska Area earlier in the season, 4-3.  The Lakers ended the regular-season ranked third in Class A while the Dragons were ranked fifth.

The Minnewaska Area girls tennis team has had seven state team appearances, including 2001, 2005, 2006, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019.  The boys tennis program meanwhile, has qualified to state twice in 2022 and 2024.

•  In the Class A State Singles’ Tourney, all four of the top seeds advanced to the semifinals, including Litchfield sophomore Isla Dille, who beat Leah Maddock, of Osakis, in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).  

Those two also played in the Section 6A title match with Dille winning in two quick sets despite Maddock being the top seed.  In the state semifinals, Minnehaha Academy top-seed Chloe Alley beat Dille, 6-3, 6-0, while Fatemeh Deng of Blake beat Casey Cronin of Holy Family, 6-0, 6-1.  In the championship, Alley routed Vang, 6-0, 6-3, while Cronen edged Dille for third, 3-6, 6-4, 10-7.

State Tourney results

Minnewaska results:

DOUBLES results:  

•  Megan Thorfinnson-Alia Randt, Minnewaska Area, def Sophia Nerison-Livia Tennessen, Cannon Falls 6-1, 6-1; def Regan Brass-Louisa Cohen, Blake 7-5, 6-2; lost to Ally Mersman-Madison Ward, Maple River 7-5, 6-0; lost to Therese Bauer-Rylee Thieren, Lake City 6-4, 7-6 (9-7).

Championship:  Macy Sohre-Kelsey Jaeger, Maple River def Ally Mersman-Madison Ward, Maple River 6-4, 6-4

Third place:  Bauer-Thieren, Lake City def Megan Thorfinnson-Alia Randt, Minnewaska 6-4, 7-6 (9-7)