The Bulldog girls tennis program has over 50 students participating in the numerous levels of the sport, ranging from seventh to 12th grades. 

Coach Nathan Bucher’s varsity squad is made up of the top dozen players who compete against each other to determine the 12 best players who  fit into Bucher’s 1, 2, 3, & 4 singles spots and 1, 2, & 3 doubles positions. 

“This year, the line-up has a few spots we’re trying to find the best doubles pairings to give us the strongest team as a whole,” said  Bucher. 

With a new conference (Mississippi 8) in the mix, Bucher says Princeton has been a force the last few years. 

“We play them every year at the beginning of the season in a scrimmage,” he said. “They will be a solid team again this year and after speaking with their coach,  Cambridge and Chisago Lakes will be solid competition as well.” 

Because of the conference change, Becker no longer faces Foley as a conference foe, but they will remain a section team. 

“We had a really tight match already with them in Foley last week,” said Bucher. “They came out on the winning side by one match.”

Bucher’s coaching staff has been working well with the large numbers of athletes in the system. The middle school has a change of coach, where Jen Anderson has stepped in from volunteering last year to officially coach the team. She is aided by Mrs. Hyttsten, as they continue the Becker tennis tradition with a large group of 20 middle schoolers.

“From time to time, Coach Hokan Bengtson will be on the court coaching during matches in between his football schedule which is a huge help to have another set of eyes especially in post season play,” said Bucher. 

Nate also has Alyssa Stevens back as the JV coach and she serves as Bucher’s assistant. 

“She is so well loved by the girls and continues to push and help us be stronger,” he said. “We are both excited to have more JV match opportunities in the new conference.” 

Coach Stevens just had a daughter last June and Coach Bucher’s wife is due with a baby girl the end of October.

“Coaching is such an awesome way to be involved in the community,” he said. “As a coach we are lucky enough to help foster and create a community within our team. Becker tennis continues to pride itself on the positive atmosphere and caring coaching staff that helps the students realize their potential and grow as young adults.” 

Bucher says this year’s  schedule turned out to give his team quite a few away matches, for some reason. 

“Overall, the team is looking really strong,” he said. “I’m excited to get into our conference schedule to see how we compare in the new conference.”

The team consists of Alayna Lindquist, Allison Loken, Anna Ritchie, Arin Hendrickson, Ayla Brown, Courtney Nuest, Halle Murphy, Hannah Uecker, Jackie Yoerg, Janelle Gudim, Jazlyn Toedter, Julia Bengtson, Madelyn Moe, Rachael Schultz and Talia Loken.

St. Cloud Doubles Tournament

The Becker Bulldog girls tennis team competed in the St. Cloud Doubles Tournament last weekend and finished second to Foley (16) with 13 points.

Other teams competing were St. Cloud Tech (11), Buffalo (7) and Anoka (3).

Results

No. 1 - Anna Ritchie and Courtney Nuest (Becker defeated Maya Nibbe and Sara Roof (Anoka) 8-3, -, -;

No. 1 - Alaina Lee and Anna Lee (Buffalo) defeated Nuest and Ritchie (Becker) 8-1, -, -;

No. 1 - Peyton Kopel and Brooke Beier (Foley) defeated Ritchie and Nuest (Becker) 8-3, -, -;

No. 1 - Ashley Tarrolly and Kate Inderieden (Tech) defeated Nuest and Ritchie (Becker) 8-1, -, -;

No. 2 - Julia Bengtson and Alayna Lindquist (Becker) defeated Elange Seibure and Olivia Anderson (Anoka) 8-5, -, -;

No. 2 - Bengtson and Lindquist (Becker) defeated  Ohnica Melenich and Hillary Hovland (Buffalo) 8-3, -, -;

No. 2 - Lindquist and  Bengtson (Becker) defeated Bailey Gapinski and Olivia Falk (Foley) 8-7 (74), -, -;

No. 2 - Natalie Peterson  and Leah Donnelly (Tech) defeated Bengtson and Lindquist (Becker) 8-2, -, -;

No. 3 - Jackie Yoerg and Jazlyn Toedter (Becker) defeated Lila Fedor and Kailey Sorenberger (Anoka) 8-4, -, -;

No. 3 - Toedter and Yoerg (Becker) defeated Ella Stevens and Kiley Herbst (Buffalo) 8-5, -, -;

No. 3 - Jami Novak and Savannah Gapinski (Foley) defeated Toedter and Yoerg (Becker) 8-1, -, -;

No. 3 - Toedter and Yoerg (Becker) defeated Maddie Dahnke and Chloe Woodman (Tech) 8-3, -, -;

No. 4 - Maddie Moe and Arin Hendrickson (Becker) defeated Ella Larson and Lauren White (Anoka) 8-3, -, -;

No. 4 - Moe and Hendrickson (Becker) defeated Elise Lubben and Grace Murphy (Buffalo) 8-3, -, -;

No. 4 - Jayden Kloss and Alaina Hageman (Foley) defeated Moe and Hendrickson (Becker), 8-1, -, -;

No. 4 - Moe and Hendrickson (Becker) defeated Ella Marohl and Kylie Starren (Tech) 8-4, -, -;

No. 5 - Halle Murphy and Ayla Brown (Becker) defeated Ellie Perry and Joselyn Peterson (Buffalo) 8-6, -, -;

No. 5 - Brown and Murphy, (Becker) defeated Sydney Gapinski and Kristen O’Brien (Foley) 8-5, -, -;

No. 5 - Brown and Murphy (Becker) defeated Brooke Wilfong and Ehrin Quinn (Tech) 8-1, -, -;

No. 5 - Audrey Raeker and Nicole Jacquez (Anoka) defeated Janelle Gudim and Rachel Schultz (Becker) 5-8, -, -;

Foley 4, Becker 3

The girls lost a close match to a very tough Foley Falcon team.

Singles

No. 1 - Peyton Kopel (FF) defeated Courtney Nuest (BB), 6-3, 6-1, -;

No. 2 - Brooke Beier (FF) defeated Anna Ritchie (BB), 6-3, 6-2, -;

No. 3 - Jayden Kloss (FF) defeated Maddie Moe (BB), 2-6, 6-0, 6-0;

No. 4 - Alaina Hageman (FF) defeated Arin Hendrickson (BB), 7-5, 6-0, -;

Doubles

No. 1 - Julia Bengtson  and Alayna Lindquist (BB) defeated Bailey Gapinski and Olivia Falk (FF), 6-2, 6-1, -;

No. 2 - Jazlyn Toedter and Jackie Yoerg (BB) defeated Jami Novak and Savannah Gapinski (FF), 6-2, 7-5, -;

No. 3 - Halle Murphy and  Ayla Brown (BB) defeated Sydney Gapinski and Kristen O’brien (FF), 6-3, 6-1, -;

Becker 7, St. Francis 0

Becker swept the Saints in both singles and doubles Thursday on the road.

Singles

No. 1 - Nuest (BB) defeated Makenna Schadewald (SF), 6-0, 6-1, -;

No. 2 - Ritchie (BB) defeated Lindsey Salmela (SF), 6-2, 6-3, -;

No. 3 - Moe (BB) defeated Breanne Ter Wisscha (SF), 6-2, 6-3, -;

No. 4 - Brown (BB) defeated Veronica Tilc (SF), 6-4, 6-2, -;

Doubles

No. 1 - Bengtson and Lindquist (BB) defeated Grace Thull and Madison Rothbauer (SF), 6-2, 6-0, -;

No. 2 - Yoerg and Toedter (BB) defeated Myah Stenberg and Alli Frank (SF), 6-1, 6-3, -;

No. 3 - Murphy and Schultz (BB) defeated Edosa Ogbemudia and Kira Dupont (SF), 6-1, 6-1, -;.

Up Next

The Bulldogs host a home tournament Saturday, then Big Lake Tuesday before hitting the road to Chisago Lakes Thursday.