Thursday, March 28th, 2024 Church Directory
Head Coach Nate Bucher and the Becker girls tennis team captured the Mississippi 8 championship by going undefeated in conference play. They were all smiles last week after defeating the Monticello Magic to secure the championship trophy. (Submitted photo.)

Bulldog tennis captures M8 title

Clear out some more room in the trophy case at Becker High School, as the Becker girls tennis team last Thursday captured the Mississippi 8 title in convincing fashion with a 6-1 win over Monticello. Entering their final conference match against Princeton this week, Becker remained undefeated in conference play and every other team had at least two losses, thus guaranteeing the title for the Bulldogs.

“We have been playing stronger and stronger as the season has gone on, and we were able to pull out some tough matches against some quality M8 opponents,” Head Coach Nate Bucher said. “The girls really are playing some of their best tennis right now. We have been saying all season that our focus is on improving every time we step on the court, and I think this is a great nod to that point.”

Against the Magic, it was all Bulldogs in the singles matches, as Ayla Brown, Dani Nuest, Lauren Croal and Lily Anderson picked up wins.

In the doubles matches, Becker won the top two matches as the #1 team of Ali Groskreutz and Madison Bass won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, while Kennedy Drehmel and Hannah Bartlett won their #2 match, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5.

Speaking of the conference title, Bucher says the level of competition helped to push the Bulldogs into playing great tennis every time they were on the court and he hopes that translates to success in the section tournament.

“Even some of the matches that looked like a final score that was a big win were made up of many hard fought points against the M8 competitors, Bucher said. “The girls are excited to see some of the fruit from their labor throughout the season. Now we look to sections to prepare to play some of the people we played early in the season and see how and where we’ve improved.”

Tigers

In order to leave no doubt about who is the best in the M8, Becker finished off their conference schedule Tuesday evening with a 5-2 win over Princeton.

“It was nice to finish off the sweep of the conference and come away undefeated in the Mississippi 8,” Bucher said. “It was a good match and we played hard.”

Nuest, Croal, and Anderson picked up wins in the singles matches, while Drehmel/Bartlett and Payton Enerson/Hannah Hyttsten teamed up for victories in the doubles matches.

Bluejackets

Earlier last the week, Becker downed Cambridge-Isanti by a score of 5-2.  This time the Bulldogs swept #1-#3 in singles, with Brown, Nuest and Croal picking up the wins.

In the doubles, it was again the top two teams of Groskreutz/Bass and Drehmel/Bartlett taking care of business to help Becker seal the win.