The Becker Bulldog girls tennis team lost just their second match of the year Tuesday, but rebounded with a big win over Foley Thursday to improve to 14-2.
Pine City 4, Becker 3
The girls battled a tough Pine City team Tuesday at home, sweeping all the doubles positions after some long matches and close games. The singles players also battled hard but fell all four spots to the Dragons in the loss.
The match was tied at 3-3 and it all came down to Kat Suckert versus Ruth Rike at #2 singles. The matches ran so long their match began under the lights. All the spectators moved to one court to watch the exciting final match.
Suckert was down early and on the next change over the score was 1-5. But Suckert didn’t quit. She battled back, played defense and worked for every point and after long rallies and hard fought points, she was suddenly ahead 6-5.
Suckert dropped the next game to bring the match to a tie-breaker at 6-6.
The two fatigued singles players traded the first couple of points, but Rike eventually persevered for the win.
“It was a great, hard fought match from all the girls on both sides,” Coach Nate Bucher said. “We of course wish we could have pulled out the win, but as I told the girls, this is one of the best parts of tennis. The crowd hanging on every shot and the closeness we all feel after cheering and encouraging (our teammate) through a common struggle.”
Scores: #1 singles - Olivia Hultgren loss to Natalie Cahill, 6-7 (0), 3-6; #2 singles - Suckert loss to Rike, 6-2, 4-6, 6-7 (3); #3 singles - Ashley Souba loss to Gracie LeBrun, 5-7, 6-1, 3-6; #4 singles - Aundria Howard loss to Lexi Miller, 0-6, 0-6.
#1 doubles - Rachel Lukkarilla and Lindsey Lorette win over Raven Rarick and Alyssa Bursott, 6-3, 7-5; #2 doubles - Ellie Tobako and Madison Anderson win over Caitlyn Ferber and Anna Miller, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5; #3 doubles - Shelby Huebert and Kayla Wilken win over Maria Carpenter and Moganne Johnson, 6-4, 6-4.
Becker 7, Foley 0
The Bulldogs rebounded Thursday when they hosted Foley and pulled out a 7-0 victory.
Again, great matches all around and the match could have easily been 4-3 for either team.
Scores: #1 singles - Hultgren win over Hattie Scott, 6-0, 6-4; #2 singles - Suckert win over Holly Wennerberg, 6-1, 6-0; #3 singles - Souba win over Grace Bursch, 6-2, 6-2; #4 singles - Howard win over Hailey Kurtz, 6-4, 7-5.
#1 doubles - Lukkarilla and Lorette win over Kayla Mciver and Kylie Funk, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; #2 doubles - Tobako and Anderson win over Brittney Henry and Bethany Rahm, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4); #3 doubles - Huebert and Wilken win over Kayla Thorsten and Maddie Gorecki, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
The bulldogs get another shot at the conference teams on Saturday in Foley for the conference tournament.
