No. 7 Detroit Lakes earned a high water mark for match victories and picked up a second win on the season after defeating No. 6 Little Falls in consolation play of the Section 8AA girls tennis tournament at Little Falls Thursday, Oct. 8.
Detroit Lakes jumped out to a 3-0 lead with straight set wins at 2 and 3 singles as well as 2nd doubles. Mya Anderson and Marit Engum won at 2 and 3 singles with each only dropping 2 games. The 2nd doubles team of Harper Bellefeuille and Abby Noll also won in 2 sets only dropping 3 games.
“Abby had an awesome match at the net,” head coach Greg Unruh said. “She likes to hit the ball hard and when she's on, it's not coming back.”
The Flyers won two hard fought 3 setters at 3rd doubles and 4 singles to cut the lead to 3-2 with a pair of matches left on the court.
DL won both matches.
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Siri Vagle won a 6-2 third set to get a point at 1 singles after trailing. She and Beth Ahlin split the first two sets 6-4 to each player. Ahlin led in the third, but Vagle rallied to win the final five games and win by two breaks of serve.
The first doubles team of Ari Leitheiser and Megan Lunde came back after trailing 5-2 in the first set to win it in a tie breaker. After dropping the second set and trailing 3-0 in the third set, they won 6 of the next 7 games to seal the deal for the Lakers.
“The ladies showed a lot of grit today,” said Unruh. “We took a big step as a team today. Coming into the match with a record of 1-11 may have helped us. Little Falls may have been looking past us. I believe our tough schedule helped make the difference. It sucks to lose, but being battle tested helps at crunch time.”
Detroit Lakes continues consolation play with an elimination match at No. 5 Fergus Falls Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Section 8AA Consolation Tennis
Detroit Lakes 5, Little Falls 2
Singles:
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No. 1 - Siri Vagle, DL def. Beth Ahlin, LF, 6-4 ,4-6 ,6-2 ;
No. 2 - Mya Anderson, DL def. Tori Gottwalt, LF, 6-1, 6-1;
No. 3 - Marit Engum, DL def. Asley Hagen, LF, 6-2, 6-0;
No. 4 - Claire Kimman, LF def. Amaya LeCleir, DL, 6-4 ,3-6 , 6-2 ;
Doubles:
No. 1 - Arianna Leitheiser/ Megan Lunde, DL def. Julia Vetch/Jenna Athman, LF, 7-6 (7), 2-6 , 6-4;
No. 2 - Harper Bellefeuille/Abby Noll, DL def. Slvia Erwin/Brenna Magee, LF, 6-, 6--;
No. 3 - Alexis Nelson/Haily McDuffee, LF def. Taylor Winter/Skylar Nelson, DL, 4-6 , 7-6 (6), 6-2.
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