Stellar season ends for WHS tennis girls

“We were a little worried when we drew Red Wing after losing to them earlier in the season,” Waseca head tennis coach Kyle Collins said after the girls’ team season came to an end 4-3 to Red Wing at home Tuesday, Oct. 2. “We had one of our better seasons in many years.”

In a rematch of an earlier contest, which the girls also lost 4-3, the Bluejays captured three single match wins and no doubles wins. Last time around they won two singles matches and one doubles.

“What went wrong?” Collins asked the girls after the match. “I don’t know that anything went wrong. We knew it would be a close match. This was a good team we played today.

“We had our chances,” Collins continued. “We lost a couple tiebreakers in the second sets. We were right there.”

Winning matches for the Bluejays: Cece Huttemier 6-4, 6-2 over Allie Roe; Sarah Haley over Abby Schmaltz 7-6, 5-7, 10-5 and Lauren Drexler over Lorilei Hartman 6-2, 6-1. 

In a losing effort for the Bluejays were: Sarah Robbins 6-1, 6-0 in singles; Miranda Breck and Addie Pfeifer lost 6-2 and 6-1; Mia Kanewischer and Maddy Benson lost 6-3 and 7-6 (1), and Paige Dufault and Takya Schoenrock lost 6-2 and 7-6 (5). 

Competing in their last team event prior to the individual playoffs were seniors Huttemier, Haley, and Miranda Breck. 

“We thank those girls for a job well done,” Collins praised. “What do you say? We thank these girls for their leadership. Look at where we were last year and where we are today. Those girls were a big reason why.”

On Friday at 9 a.m. Waseca will send two singles players and four doubles players to compete in the individual portion of section 1AA playoffs at the Rochester Athletic Club. 

The Bluejays end their season with a 14-4 record. Red Wing played third-seeded Lakeville North on Thursday. 

The Bluejays finished a stellar regular season on a good note with a 4-3 win against Owatonna — a team they hadn’t beaten in a decade — on Thursday, Sept. 29. Their win gave them a 14-3 record, second place in the Big South East division, and the No. 6 seed in Section 1A.

The match against Owatonna was close to the finish like their previous matchup against Big Nine Conference opponent Northfield. However, the outcome of this one favored the Bluejays. They swept the doubles matches, only needing one singles matchup to go their way.

“The match was tied at 3-3,” Collins explained. “Senior Cece Huttemier trailed 0-3 in the third set of her matchup. She came back to win it 6-4.”

The victory was the first time Waseca had beaten the Huskies since 2012.

Singles: Olivia McDermott defeated Robbins, 6-0, 6-2; Huttemier won the tiebreaker against Emma Herzog 0-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4; Ellery Blacker took victory over Sarah Haley 6-2, 6-0; and Genevieve Froman prevailed against Takya Schoenrock, 6-3, 6-3.

Doubles: Kanewischer and Pfeifer battled for a well-earned victory against Allison Wasieleski and Hannah Nelson, 7-6 (8), 4-6, 6-3; Breck and Benson fought for their victory in three sets against Kalina Boubin and Elizabeth Roesner, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5); Paige Dufault and Lauren Drexler finished the doubles sweep with a two-set win against Amelia Shives and Lauren Nelson, 6-4, 7-6 (2).