Tigers take 3A tennis crown, are in for state

MACA/WCA tennis made a climb through Section 3A play to take No. 1! It's a ticket to state. The team is called "Tigers" based on what I see reported in other media. "WCA" is for West Central Area of course. It's a comfortable and winning partnership. 

The Tigers not only won the section championship match, they nearly did so in a sweep. Our foe was Benson/KMS. We did sweep the singles categories. Abbigail Athey showed a precise racket vs. Elise Duncan, 6-3 and 6-3. Kassidy Girard picked up steam throughout her match vs. Hannah Helms where the outcomes were 2-6, 7-5 and 6-0. Wow! Then we see Catherine "Cate" Kehoe with a sweep over Elle Klescher, 6-2 and 6-0. 

Claire Stark was dominant in beating Addy DeToy 6-0 and 6-0. Wow again! Another superlative could be trotted out for our first and second doubles teams. Kjersten Nibbe and Hope Sperr showed effective rackets against Eleanor Habben and Milgo Abdi, winning 6-2 and 6-4. The No. 2 team of Lakia Manska and Breanna Schmigall turned back Bella Quisberg and Lily Miller 7-6 (5), 4-6 and 10-6. 

Our third doubles unit didn't fare so well, as Lydia Fynboh and Elizabeth Pollard were downed by Anna McNeill and Alana Hettver, 5-7 and 4-6.

The state tournament is not until October 26-29. The locations will be Baseline Tennis Center at the U of M, and the Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis. Info is from the MSHSL.

 

Tigers 4, Montevideo 3

The tennis Tigers climbed through the Section 3A semi-finals with success vs. Montevideo. The competition site was Gustavus Adolphus, St. Peter. We survived this tough challenge with the 4-3 win. Our No. 2 though No. 4 singles players prevailed. Kassidy Girard defeated Cameron Myers 6-3 and 6-3. Catherine "Cate" Kehoe prevailed vs. Brooke Lindeman 6-4 and 7-5. Claire Stark was on the winning end vs. Lauren Dehne, 6-1 and 6-1. Our No. 1 singles player Abbigail Athey was defeated by Emily Bruce 1-6 and 1-6. Our No. 2 doubles team must have made some adjustments after the first set. Lakia Manska and Breanna Schmidgall were stopped at the start 4-6, then they came on strong to defeat Annie Marquardt and Brooke Hilden 6-1 and 6-2. Our first doubles team of Kjersten Nibbe and Hope Sperr fell to Tyra Sandven and Mathea Jorgenson 2-6 and 5-7; and at third doubles, Lydia Fynboh and Elizabeth Pollard bowed to Ashley Klaassen and Gwyn Smiens, 5-7 and 5-7.

We have certainly had beautiful weather for enjoying tennis lately. Making state as a team is very significant.

 

Volleyball: Tigers 3, Benson 0

MACA volleyball made some progress in an otherwise disappointing season on Thursday. The progress came in a sweep win. Success was versus the Braves of Benson at Benson. So we notched our third win of the season while also having the baggage of 17 losses. Benson is having its share of struggles also, a 4-19 mark. 

I'm not sure why the MACA coaches aren't helping out the media more. They ought to be up to that task after a sweep win. This was a West Central Conference match. Our success came with scores of 25-9, 25-18 and 25-17. Adysen Himley batted two serving aces at the Tigers. She was also at the fore in setting for the Braves: eleven assists. Libby McGeary and Isabella Wolter each contributed one set assist. 

Lilly Slaughter and Kyra Gronseth pounded five and three kills respectively, while these four Braves each had one: Torie Andrews, Ellie Krusemark, Wolter and Kaylin Grube. In digs we saw these Braves lead: McGeary (16), Krusemark (12) and Slaughter (11). 

I do not have stats for MACA.

 

Melrose 3, Tigers 1

The Tuesday chapter of the Tiger volleyball week was a loss, 1-3 vs. Melrose at Tiger Center. Melrose eked out the Game 1 win 25-23, then it was a 25-19 score in Game 2 for the Dutchmen. The Tigers got the Game 3 win 25-23, then succumbed in Game 4 when Melrose enjoyed a 7-0 run. The Game 4 score was 25-21 for the Dutchmen. 

Our kmrs-kkok site reported some MACA stat highlights, like Maddy Grove with eleven kills, eleven digs, three aces and a block. Brianna Marty came through with ten kills, ten digs, three aces and a block. Sydney Dietz had impact with eight kills and four aces, and Brienna Dybdahl accumulated 28 set assists. 

Kimberly Klassen helped lead the visitor to victory with 12 kills and six blocks. Then we see Brooke Meyer with 20 assists and Kari Rademacher with 14 digs. Melrose is having a .500 season.

 

Werk, Stallman lead runners

The Tigers of the cross country world visited Sauk Centre Tuesday. Hailey Werk was the top Tiger place-winner for the girls: 14th. Meredith Carrington arrived at the finish chute 19th, just ahead of Isabel Fynboh in 20th. Continuing: Hannah Schultz (34th), Kendal Fischer (36th), Caryn Marty (37th) and Alayna Perkins (52nd). The individual girls champion was Laina Viere of the champion Rocori team. 

Our boys effort was topped by Gavin Stallman in 27th. Charlie Hanson, Matt Giese and Hunter Pederson arrived at the finish chute in the 40s. Other running Tigers were Jacob Buhl (47th), Pierce Richards (57th) and Sam Jordan (67th). The top boys team was St. Cloud Cathedral. The boys individual champion was Landon Kampsen of Sauk Centre.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com