The LHS girls’ tennis players continued their winning ways with two victories over the past week.
On Tuesday, Sept. 6, the Cardinals defeated Blue Earth Area 5-2 at home and finished the week with a 4-3 road win over Marshall on Thursday, Sept. 8.
The Cardinals are scheduled to travel to Worthington Tuesday and to Pipestone on Thursday.
The Pipestone meet is for the coveted Battle Racket, and the winner will have the upper hand for the No. 1 seed in the section tournament.
LHS 5, Blue Earth Area 2
In the Blue Earth match, LHS won two singles contests and was victorious in all three doubles matches.
Roselynn Hartshorn and Cassi Chesley continued their strong play at No. 3 and No. 4 singles. Hartshorn defeated Abby Prescher 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 and Chesley defeated Erin Prescher 7-5, 6-2.
At No. 1 singles, Rayann Remme lost to Addison Armstrong 6-1, 6-0. Morgan Hadler lost to Liv Dutton 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.
In doubles play, Sarah Stegenga and Katharine Kelm defeated Grace Hanson and Carol Schrader by scores of 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 1 doubles.
Tori Hemme and Priscilla Muehr defeated Ashlyn Klinkner and Lauren Survis 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 doubles. The No. 3 doubles team of Augusta Papik and Caitlin Kindt defeated Erika Gaydon and McKinnley Hansen 6-1, 6-2.
“All of the doubles teams played great today. I was really pleased with how Roselynn and Cassi are playing singles right now,” said LHS coach Jon Beers.
“Any match that we can win two out of the four singles matches will give us a great chance to win.”
LHS 4, Marshall 3
In the Marshall contest, Luverne won two singles matches and two of three doubles matches for the 4-3 win.
At No. 3 singles, Hartshorn again came out on top with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Taylor Miller. Chesley defeated Naomi Schroeder 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.
Remme was defeated 6-0, 6-2 by Regan Loft at No. 1 singles, and Hadler was defeated 6-1, 6-0 by Taylor DePores at No. 2 singles.
“Rayann and Morgan have been playing some very talented girls the last four matches,” Beers said.
“They really have been playing some good tennis but just need to find the confidence that they were playing with at the beginning of the year.”
Stegenga and Kelm defeated Cecily Aufenthie and Siri Christensen 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-1 at No. 1 doubles, and Papik and Kindt defeated Aubrey Schaefer and Justine Kirst 7-6(3), 6-1 at No. 3 doubles.
Hemme and Muehr lost to Eliza Holmgren and Olivia Penske 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 doubles.
“Sarah and Katharine lost the first set and were down in the second set,” Beers said.
“But they were able to come back and take the second set in a tie breaker and then win the third 6-1 to get a win for themselves and the team.”
He said the team match was tied at 3- 3, and the winner of this match would give their team the victory.
“Sarah and Katharine played a great third set, and as a coach, it was really fun to watch how they played,” Beers said. “Augusta and Caitlin won both of their matches last week at No. 3 doubles and have not lost a match yet this season when playing together.”
He said next week is important for the team.
“Pipestone has been playing some very good tennis so far this year,” Beers said.
“We will need to be ready to play when we meet them on Thursday. The winner will get to keep the Battle Racket for the next year and will probably be the No.1 seed in the section tournament.”