The Becker girls tennis team is hoping for a repeat performance this year as section champs and if Tuesday night was any indication, they are going to be a hard team to beat. 

The Bulldogs opened their title defense with a straight set 7-0 win over the Big Lake Hornets on a windy night at Becker High School.

Becker’s singles players were on fire, losing a total of just five games en route to the straight set wins in all four matches.

At #1 singles, Courtney Nuest defeated Ari Laun by a pair of 6-0 scores, while Maddie Moe had the same result at #2 singles over the Hornets’ Ella Dotzler.  Ayla Brown picked up the win at #3 singles, followed by a nice performance at #4 singles by Julia Peterson who won 6-1, 6-3 over Big Lake’s Lilly Stolte.

“The girls were really focused and on top of their games,” said coach Nate Bucher.  “They really adjusted well to the wind gusts and played at a very high level.”

In the doubles competition, the #1 team of Alayna Lindquist and Julie Bengtson won two sets 6-0 over Sophie Wesolowski and Janelle Gerdts.  Jackie Yoerg and Jazlyn Toedter were 6-1 and 6-3 winners in the #2 doubles match by defeating Emmy Bowne and Kayla Niedzielski.  In the #3 doubles match, Hannah Uecker and Janelle Gudim picked up the win with 6-1 and 6-2 victories over Avae Burfeind and Amelia Gardner.

“Our doubles teams continue to play off of each other very well,” said Bucher. 

With the win, the number one seed Bulldogs advanced to host the Willmar Cardinals in the quarterfinals Thursday evening and if they are victorious, the team would host again Tuesday night in the section semifinals.  Thursday, October 15th would be the section finals played at Sartell, the neutral site this year for the championship.

“We are hoping to keep advancing and we are focused on taking it one match at a time,” added Bucher. 

Look for complete details on the Bulldogs’ Willmar match and a potential semifinal tilt in next week’s Patriot.