August 31, 2006 at 8:02 a.m.
Viking girls' tennis team has positive first week with four wins
Viking girls' tennis team has positive first week with four wins
Elk River tournament
Elk River 7, North Branch 0
“Our first match was against Elk River and it looked like it was our first match ever,” said North Branch coach Tom McLaughlin. “We didn’t play all that well and they did.” Playing fourth singles, Emily Byrne played a great first set before losing 4-6, 0-6.
North Branch 5, Monticello 2
The opening day jitters disappeared and the Vikings got wins from:
Danni Sonnenfeld at first singles 6-1, 6-4.
Sara Fletcher at third singles 7-6, 6-2.
Emily Byrne at fourth singles 6-3, 6-2 ( her first varsity victory)
Crystal Miller and Katie Wicklund at first doubles 6-3, 6-3
Catie Bettendorf and Sara Byrne 6-3, 6-1 (first varsity wins )
Rogers 4, North Branch 3
“We played well but so did Rogers,” the coach said. North Branch wins came from Danni Sonnenfeld (6-1, 6-1 - first singles), Emily Byrne (6-3, 6-3 - fourth singles and first doubles (Robyn Rodrigue/Mandy Johnson 7-6 (7-4), 3-6 (11-9) in a third set tiebreaker).
Kelsey O’Hern lost in a third set tiebreaker at second singles. The second (Crystal Miller/Katie Wicklund) and third doubles (Catie Bettendorf/Sara Byrne) both played well, but lost close matches.
Coon Rapids Tournament
“We won the tournament in incredible fashion. Like in the Elk River Tournament, third sets are determined by 10-point tiebreakers,” Mclaughlin commented.
North Branch 4, St Francis 3
“It didn’t look good early on. Only Sonnenfeld at first singles and Fletcher at third singles won their first sets. The third doubles team (Jeni Farr/Bettendorf) lost the first set in a tiebreaker so at least they were close,” McLaughlin added.
Sonnenfeld won her second set and her match 6-1, 6-2 but St. Francis won the next two points at second and fourth singles. “Sara Fletcher was struggling in her second set and had to play a tie breaker to determine her match,” the coach continued. Fletcher went on to win the match 6-4, 3-6, 10-6.
“I thought we could lose this match 1-6, but first doubles (Rodrigue/Johnson) and second doubles (Miller/Wicklund) both won their second sets and made it to tiebreakers for the third set. We had to win all three tiebreakers to win the match and the girls did it. Rodrigue/Johnson won 2-6, 6-3, (10-8) and Miller/Wicklund won 2-6, 6-3, (10-4).
“It was great drama with three tiebreakers going on at nearly the same time,” said McLaughlin.
North Branch 5,
South St. Paul 2
Against the Packers, Sonnenfeld won quickly (6-0, 6-2) and first and second doubles picked up where they had left off in their previous matches, playing aggressively and winning. Rodrigue/Johnson won 6-1, 6-3 and Miller/ Wicklund won 6-2, 6-1.
“We lost points at second and fourth singles. Third doubles (Farr/Bettendorf) had lost their first set 1-6, looking overmatched. Fletcher, who had won her first set 6-4, lost her second set 3-6, needing to play a tiebreaker for her match. Again, we could very easily lose this match,” Mclaughlin said.
“Meanwhile, third doubles turned their game completely around and won their second set 7-5 and went to a tiebreaker. This time we only needed to win one of the tiebreakers. But, again, we won them both.” Farr/Bettendorf won 1-6, 7-5, (11-9). Fletcher won 6-4, 3-6, (10-5) at third singles.
North Branch 4,
Coon Rapids 3
If you had told me before this match that we would win this match in even more dramatic fashion than the first two, I would not have believed you,” McLaughlin commented. “Within a short time I could tell that this match would have a completely different character. All of our singles were winning and all of our doubles were losing. First and third doubles were close, but trailing. We won the first set at 1, 2, and 3 singles but Emily Byrne, at fourth singles, was locked in a close match.” Byrne lost her first set in a close tiebreaker. The doubles teams all lost their first sets. Fletcher was the first player off the court, winning her match 6-1, 6-1. She was followed closely by Kelsey O'Hern, who won at second singles 6-2, 6-4. First doubles (Rodrigue/Johnson) lost 4-6, 2-6.
“Second doubles lost their first set 0-6 and were down 0-3 in the second set before putting it together,......clawing back to 6-6 in the second set and a tiebreaker before losing the match 6-8 in the tiebreaker.
“A very tired fourth singles, Byrne, won her second set forcing a tiebreaker for the match and won 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, (14-12) in a gutsy performance. Third doubles (Farr/ Bettendorf) won their second set as well, forcing a tiebreaker for the match but lost 5-7, 7-5, (4-10),” the coach added.
It was 3-3 with only first singles on the court. Sonnenfeld had won her first set 6-4, but lost a very close second set 5-7 bringing the whole match to a head with yet another tiebreaker. “All the girls from both teams had gathered to watch and Danni took control of the tiebreaker early on winning 10-4. We had won all four singles and the match,” said an enthused McLaughlin.
“On the day, we had gone to eight third set tiebreakers and we had won seven of them. And, it wasn’t just our top players. It was three of the singles and all the doubles teams. It was some of the most exciting team tennis I’ve ever been lucky enough to be a part of. For the day, Sonnenfeld and Fletcher at 1 and 3 singles, won all their matches but we got points from all our positions.”
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