Litchfield is headed back to the state tennis tournament.
The Dragons completed their roll through the Section 6A tournament — and qualified for state — with a pair of wins Oct. 11 at Rogers Tennis Club.
Top-seeded Litchfield made it look easy, beating fourth-seeded Minnewaska 7-0 in the semifinals, then topping third-seeded Osakis 6-1 in the championship. Combined with their 7-0 win over Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in the first round of the section tournament Thursday, Oct. 6, the Dragons lost just a single point on their way to the title.
Meanwhile, two doubles teams and a singles player advanced in the Section 6A individual tournament last week. They all were to play for berths in the state tournament on Tuesday at Rogers, after this edition of the Independent Review went to press. Find results online at www.independentreview.net.
It will be Litchfield’s sixth consecutive state tournament appearance as a team. The Dragons finished runner-up in last year’s state tournament.
The State Class A Tennis Tournament is scheduled for Oct. 25-28 at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
The Section 6A team championship match had a familiar ring, as Litchfield and Osakis also met in last year’s finals, with the Dragons posting a 6-1 win.
Osakis reached the finals by dispatching No. 2-seeded New London-Spicer 5-2 in the semifinals. Osakis also may have been seeing an opportunity for upset against Litchfield. Osakis pushed Litchfield to the limit in a dual meet on the Dragons’ home court earlier this season before Litchfield claimed a 4-3 win.
But that was September. Litchfield is usually a much better team in October as the postseason rolls around.
First singles player Ryanna Steinhaus, who lost in the early season matchup, posted a straight-sets win over Osakis’ Leah Maddock 6-4, 6-3 Tuesday. Second and third singles players Karlee Prahl and Isla Dille also earned straight-sets victories.
The Dragons’ first and second doubles teams also earned wins in straight sets, while the third doubles team of Emma Anderson and Amelia Benson were pushed to three sets before securing a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win.
Individuals advance
Steinhaus, a senior, and sophomore Karlee Prahl, who were seeded No. 1 in doubles, earned a 6-0, 6-0 opening-round win over the duo of Sophie Nelson and Lily Kuhl from St. John’s Prep. They then beat eighth-seeded Jordan Proehl and Avery Dierenfeld of New London-Spicer 6-0, 6-1 in the section quarterfinals.
Litchfield’s other doubles tandem — Lauren Erickson and Olivia Olson — were seeded No. 2 in the tournament and advanced with straight-sets wins in the first round and quarterfinals. They lost just one game in the two matches, during their quarterfinal 6-1, 6-0 win over seventh-seeded Grace Jensen and Zoey Elwood of Minnewaska.
Erickson and Olson have been Litchfield’s top doubles tandem all season while Steinhaus and Prahl have been the Dragons’ No. 1 and No. 2 singles players, respectively.
Litchfield eighth-grader Isla Dille, seeded third in singles, also lost just one game while advancing through the first two rounds of the tournament. Senior Kaitlyn Palmer saw her individual season end in the section quarterfinals. Seeded ninth in the tourney, Palmer opened with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Amyra Gamez of New London-Spicer, but then fell to top-seeded Leah Maddock of Osakis 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
