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The Wildcat tennis team went 2-1 against conference opponents last week. Tuesday, September 4 they lost 5-2 to Totino-Grace at home. Wednesday they defeated St. Louis Park 5-2 at the CLHS courts and Thursday they beat The Saints at St. Francis by the same score.

Totino-Grace 5, CL 2

"The team expected a good match from Totino-Grace and that is what we got," said Wildcat coach Steve Otte. "Each player worked very hard to win her match."

Meet Summary/

Coach's Comments

1S Alyssa Lundberg

won 7-6, 6-4.

Alyssa is really doing a nice job moving her opponents around on the court. Last year Alyssa tried to overpower her opponents all the time and this year she is mixing it up better by placing shots when she needs to and hitting winners when the time is right during the point.

2S Kristen Dobosenski

lost 5-7, 2-6.

Kristen played a very nice match. During the match, she hit shots that were on the college level for ground strokes. The match didn't go her way, but her strokes are coming along very well.

3S Kristen Lee

won 6-2, 6-3.

Kristen did a good job keeping the ball in play. Her opponent played well, but Lee was a better player today.

4S Ali Turnquist

lost 6-7, 3-6.

Ali was in this match all the way. Ali strength is that she keeps her ground strokes deep which keeps her opponent away from the net. Ali is getting better with each match.

1D Tracy Schneider/Jess Olson lost 1-6, 2-6.

2D Christina Leaf/Megan Corradi lost 1-6, 0-6.

3D Gretchen Richter/Jenna Dobosenski lost 3-6, 4-6.

CL 5, St Louis Park 2

"The girls were really ready to play today. Looking at the book from last year, I thought we were going to have our hands full. The team fought hard and really kept the pressure on SLP throughout the match. This is the first time that we have swept all of the doubles points in a match and it was awesome," Otte commented

1S Alyssa Lundberg

won 7-5, 6-2.

2S Kristen Dobosenski

won 6-3, 6-3.

3S Kristen Lee

lost 2-6, 3-6.

4S Ali Turnquist

lost 6-4, 1-6, 7-10

1D Tracy Schneider/Jess Olson won 6-2, 6-3.

What an awesome job by these two. They got to the net and closed out points to make it a fast match.

2D Christina Leaf/Gretchen Richter won 6-2, 6-4.

Christina and Gretchen did a very good job keeping the ball in play and using lobs at the right time. They never really let SLP get comfortable during the match.

3D Megan Corradi/Michelle Caneday won 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.

The girls were down 0-3 right away, and then fought hard in the first set. But, it was way too late. They turned things around and won the second and third sets with ease.

Chisago Lakes 5, St. Francis 2

Coach Otte said, "This was the third match in three days during the first week of school. The match was played on St. Francis' new courts and there were a few distractions before play got started. I was nervous that the pre-game distractions (taking pictures on the courts by St. Francis) and the strong winds would affect the Wildcats, but they handled it all pretty well. This was a marathon of a match with four of the matches going a full three sets."

1S Alyssa Lundberg

won 6-1, 6-2.

Alyssa played really well in the wind. Her slice forehand was a tough shot that her opponent never quite figured out.

2S Kristen Dobosenski

won 6-2, 6-3.

Kristen was the first match done today. She did a great job with her serves and took control of the match early and kept on going.

3S Kristen Lee

lost 4-6, 4-6.

Kristen played a very close match that didn't quite go the way she would have liked.

4S Ali Turnquist

won 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Ali continued to keep her opponent deep in the court and away from the net. That helped her win this one is three sets.

1D Tracy Schneider/Jess Olson

won 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

These two fought a tough battle with St. Francis. This was really a match of momentum and who could hold on to it the longest. Tracy and Jess stepped it up in the third set to pull out the victory.

2D Gretchen Richter/Megan Corradi won 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

After dropping the first set, these two played a strong second and third set. Good serves were important in this match and it helped them with the win.

3D Christina Leaf/Jenna Dobosenski lost 6-1, 4-6, 4-6.

Christina and Jenna were on the court the longest, fighting for their points. The last game itself took about twenty minutes to play. Both teams did a great job keeping the ball in play and trying to outlast the other. St. Francis came out the winner in this close one, though.

The Wildcats are scheduled to play at Benilde-St. Margaret's today (September 13) and to host Columbia Heights Monday, September 18. Both Meets are schedulded to start at 4 pm.

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