by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Staples-Motley pulled out a 4-3 win over Thief River Falls Thursday afternoon in a dual that will likely decide the top seed in the Section 8A girls tennis tournament.
The Prowlers and Cardinals met in the first match of a quadrangular meet that also included Crookston and Wadena-Deer Creek. The Pirates and Wolverines played at the Engelstad courts, while the Prowlers and Cardinals squared off at Franklin Middle School.
“Our girls were ready to go against Staples, knowing they are probably our toughest section opponent,” said Shawna Spears, Thief River Falls girls tennis head coach. “The girls had lots of energy hitting the courts and they had some strong games in the start, but Staples came out fighting especially strong in the second set and took charge of the momentum.”
The Prowlers took two of three doubles matches against the Cardinals but picked up just one singles win. The doubles team of Olivia Schuster and Jaclyn Novak defeated Mia Pesta and Lydia Roelofs in the number two spot; Kaitlyn Jahn and Taylor Trudeau picked up a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win in the number three doubles spot, and Tegan Pray took care of business in the number three spot.
The Cardinals countered with wins by Madison Perius and Natalie Hanson over Raya Dahlin and Samantha Rodahl in the number one doubles spot; and Ronnie Noska over Braylee Wienen, Jaida Hoist over Piper Greene, and Charlie Nosaka over Ava Niebuhr in singles spots one, two and four.
“Our girls kept up a good fight, but we couldn’t get that jump over their drive,” Spears said. “It was a tough close loss, but our girls kept their heads held high and were ready to take on Wadena.”
The Prowlers swept singles play against the Wolverines, with Wienen, Greene, Pray and Niebuhr all picking up wins. The Wolverines took two of three doubles matches.
“Wadena had some especially strong doubles teams, but that was good for our girls to experience,” Spears said. “Our singles took a quick sweep over them. Our doubles fought hard and I think it opened up their eyes a little bit to what they can work on as a doubles team to improve and become stronger – which is good as we near crunch time towards the end of the season. They didn’t give up and two doubles especially had a close fight with just losing the tie-breaker for the first and taking the second to a 5-7 loss.”
The Prowlers had impressive showings in both the number three singles and doubles matches.
“Tegan Pray had a clean sweep of the day at three singles,” Spears said. “Three doubles also had a sweep on the day, giving up zero games was especially impressive for Kaitlyn Jahn and Taylor Trudeau, who earned her first varsity point wins. All our girls fought hard and we’re hoping that they use this day as some motivation to start digging even deeper within themselves as we near sections.”
Staples-Motley 4, Thief River Falls 3
Singles: No. 1 – Ronnie Noska, Staples-Motley, def. Braylee Wienen, Thief River Falls, 6-3, 6-0; No. 2 – Jaida Holst, Staples-Motley, def. Piper Greene, Thief River Falls, 6-2, 6-3; No. 3 – Tegan Pray, Thief River Falls def. Kaylee Perius, Staples-Motley, 6-2, 6-4; No. 4 – Charlie Noska, Staples-Motley, def. Ava Niebuhr, Thief River Falls, 1-6, 6-2, 14-12.
Doubles: No. 1 – Madison Perius/Natalie Hanson, Staples-Motley, def. Raya Dahlin/Samantha Rodahl, Thief River Falls, 6-1, 6-2; No. 2 – Olivia Schuster/Jaclyn Novak, Thief River Falls def. Mia Pesta/Lydia Roelofs, Staples-Motley, 6-2, 6-3; No. 3 – Kaitlyn Jahn/Taylor Trudeau, Thief River Falls def. Lauren Dolezal/Carolyn Hoppe, Staples-Motley, 6-0, 6-0.
Thief River Falls 5, Wadena-Deer Creek 2
Singles: No. 1 – Braylee Wienen, Thief River Falls, def. Emma Weniger, Wadena-Deer Creek, 6-0, 6-0; No. 2 – Piper Greene, Thief River Falls, def. Lydia Helmbrecht, Wadena-Deer Creek, 6-1, 6-1; No. 3 – Tegan Pray, Thief River Falls, def. Arynn Lorentz, Wadena-Deer Creek, 6-0, 6-0; No. 4 – Ava Niebuhr, Thief River Falls, def. Britta Ferris, Wadena-Deer Creek, 6-3, 6-2.
Doubles: No. 1 – Kaylee Endres/Charli Snyder, Wadena-Deer Creek, def. Raya Dahlin/Samantha Rodahl, Thief River Falls, 6-1, 6-1; No. 2 – Isabelle Lehmkuhl/Chloe Philippy, Wadena-Deer Creek, def. Olivia Schuster/Jaclyn Novak, Thief River Falls, 7-6 (8), 7-5; No. 3 – Kaitlyn Jahn/Taylor Trudeau, Thief River Falls, def. Ellie Golberg/Kendra Leeseberg, Wadena-Deer Creek, 6-0, 6-0.