The Becker girls tennis team entered the South Sub-Sections last week seeded third behind Foley (#1) and Tech (#2).
Team Play
The Bulldogs faced the sixth-seeded Apollo/Sauk Rapids-Rice co-op team Oct. 4 in the first round, handily defeating them 7-0 in the morning session.
For the second match later the same day, they faced the very tough Tech team.
Hannah Bengtson, who has played doubles most of the year moved up to number one singles, bumping Anna Ritchie to #2 singles, Courtney Nuest to #3 singles and Maddie Moe still holding in at #4 singles.
Alayna Lindquist and Megan Nelson teamed up for #1 doubles, while Ally Kangas and Jackie Yoerg played at #2 doubles. Jazlyn Toedter and Julia Bengtson competed at #3 doubles.
The Bulldogs were able to sweep the doubles positions, but the singles were — as expected — very tough. Bengtson lost as did Ritchie, and Moe. Nuest gave her Tech player all she could but lost, thus the Bulldogs’ season ended with their second loss to the eventual section champions St. Cloud Tech.
Individual Play
The individual tournament of two singles and two doubles positions were played the next morning, so the various girls would have to push back emotions of their team loss to play their best in the individual tournament.
Ritchie and Nuest entered the singles draw after both winning their first round matches, but falling to strong opponents in the second round. Lindquist and Yoerg again teamed up for the individual tournament, winning their first round match but falling in a third set to end their season.
Hannah Bengtson teamed with Nelson, getting the #3 seed in the doubles draw. Their first match was a quick victory, but the second match saw a strong Willmar team give the Bulldog duo almost everything they could handle. Nonetheless, the Bulldogs emerged victorious.
With the second round win, the Bulldogs advanced to the section tournament but still had to play out the sub-section for seeding for the next round. The next morning, the Bulldogs had to play the #1 Foley doubles team of Kipka and Corrigan, a team they have faced and fallen in two previous three set matches.
Bengtson and Nelson leapt out of the gate from the first serve to the last winning the match in straight sets and advancing to the sub-section championship versus a very tough Tech team. The Tech team quickly overpowered Bengtson and Nelson, handing them second place in the sub-section and the #2 seed for the next weekend of tennis.
With the #2 seed from the south sub-section, Bengtson and Nelson would face the #3-seeded duo from the north from Fergus Falls. Bengtson and Nelson quickly dispatched them to go on and face the #1 seed from the north, Brainerd.
Again, the Bulldogs doubles team came out energized and played great tennis, winning the contest and sending them to the championship match.
Playing the same Tech doubles team from the week before, this time the Becker duo fell to Tech in the final.
With the top two teams going on to state, it looked almost secure that Bengtson and Nelson would part of that group — but they had to wait for the designation of a true second.
The Brainerd team — who the Bulldogs defeated — was playing the Foley team that Tech had defeated. The scenario meant that if Brainerd would win, the Bulldogs would get the true second and a trip to state. If the Foley team won, the Bulldogs would face the Falcons for a fourth time this year to play to go to state.
As fate would determine, the Foley team won their match and would face off against the Bulldogs — again.
Bengtson and Nelson struggled to find their rhythm from the beginning stroke and never recovered. The Bulldogs fell to Kipka and Corrigan, sending the Falcons to state and the Bulldogs with a third place medal.
“Its tough every year to end the season, but this was such a great team and season,” said Bucher. “Of course we wish we were playing more, but I’m so proud of this team, not just for their play, but for their character.”
