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Greta Gillach made her debut at the state tournament last week and despite going 0-2, she had a tough fought match in the consolation bracket and gained a ton of experience for her future tennis career.

Gillach, who had finished second in Section 7AA, drew fifth-seeded Nicole Snezhko of Robbinsdale Armstrong in the first round on Thursday, October 24.

Snezhko had a cannon of a serve that kept Gillach off balance most of their match. As she played a bit longer with her, Gillach got more comfortable with the serve and started stringing together better volleys, although Snezhko still finished many in her favor.

Gillach, only a sophomore, fell 6-2, 6-1 to her Falcon counterpart.

“Greta made her work for her win,” Head Coach Jon Erickson said after the match at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center. “She got a few points and got a bit more comfortable once she was able to see her serve a few times.”

In the first round of the consolation bracket, Gillach drew another senior ­– there were only five of them in the field ­– in Foley’s Peyton Kopel.

Gillach dropped the first set 6-3, but showed some great moxie in fighting back and winning the second set 6-4.

The two tangled in a long third set, but Kopel ended up winning 10-8 in the deciding set. “Greta showed great effort in the match after losing the first set,” Erickson said. “I couldn’t be more proud of how she handled herself in the match.”

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