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Bluejay netters split two 4-3 matches
By DALE KUGATH
Scoop Sports Editor
The Waseca tennis team got the jump on the high school sports season with a pair of matches to open the year.
The Jays, coming off a 17-3 season and second-place finish at state, split a pair of 4-3 matches at home.
In a rematch of last year's state semifinal contest, Waseca edged Rochester Lourdes 4-3 Aug. 25.
The Owatonna Huskies swept four singles' matches to edge the Bluejays 4-3 in Waseca the next day.
Rochester Lourdes
WASECA - Coach Kyle Collins's opening day lineup featured just two seniors, but the Bluejays still had enough to edge Rochester Lourdes 4-3. Waseca fell behind 3-1 after four matches but swept the final three bouts to capture the win.
The Bluejays picked up singles' victories at the third and fourth spots.
At third singles, junior Taylor Nelson started her season with a pair of 6-4 victories over Rochester eighth-grader Megan Jans.
Sophomore Caitlyn Hayford, a transfer from Owatonna, handled Lourdes sophomore Rachel Morice 6-3, 6-2 at the fourth singles' position.
Waseca also earned a couple of doubles' victories.
At second doubles, Bluejay sophomores Alicia Knoll and Abbe Hoehn defeated a pair of Rochester seniors, Chioe Piepho and Annie Werte, 6-3 and 6-4.
The Jays also earned a victory at the third doubles' position. Junior Madi Zimmerman and sophomore Shanly Nelson rolled past the Lourdes freshmen tandem of Jess Alexander and Lucy Hanson, 6-1 and 6-3.
Waseca's top doubles' combination of seniors Lexie Ulfers and Tess Krueger lost in straight sets to senior Brittany Alexander and junior Kristin Brandhagen of the Eagles, 6-3 and 6-0.
The Jays were also beaten at the top two singles' positions.
At first singles, junior Margaret Pearson of Lourdes blanked junior Hannah Flor of the Bluejays by a pair of 6-0 scores.
At second singles, sophomore Abby Collins of Waseca fell to Rochester freshman Sofia Terzic 6-3 and 6-1.
The Waseca junior varsity captured a 2-0 win over Lourdes.
Owatonna
WASECA - Owatonna swept all four singles' matches to nip the Bluejays 4-3 at Waseca Aug. 25. Both teams are 1-1 for the season.
The Bluejay strength was in their doubles' play where they won all three matches.
At the top spot, Ulfers and Kruger earned a straight set victory over Owatonna seniors Alli Kuehn and Briana Strohschein 6-3, 6-1.
Knoll and Hoehn won their second straight match with a three-set win over senior Carli Tellijohn and junior Larissa Voss of the Huskies, winning the second doubles' match 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
At third doubles, Zimmerman and Shanly Nelson teamed up for a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Owatonna sophomore Emily Weltzin and freshman Anna Rahrick.
However, the singles' matches belonged to the Huskies who swept all four victories in straight sets.
At the top spot, Owatonna junior Sarah McCann captured a pair of 6-3 victories over Flor.
At second singles, Collins lost a first-set tiebreaker to senior Courtney Hayford of the Huskies, and then dropped a 6-2 decision.
Freshman Gabby Tellijohn of Owatonna picked up 6-2 and 6-4 triumphs over Taylor Nelson of the Jays at third singles.
Husky eighth-grader Briana Hartmann controlled Waseca's Caitlyn Hayford to the tune of a 6-1, 6-2 triumph.
The Waseca junior varsity romped to a 9-2 win.
The Bluejays travel to Northfield for a dual match Sept. 1.
Waseca opens South Central Conference play at St. Peter Sept. 9.
Waseca 4, Lourdes 3
1)-Pearson (RL) def. Flor (W) 6-0,
6-0.
2)-Terzic (RL) def. Collins (W) 6-3, 6-1.
3)-T. Nelson (W) def. Jans (RL) 6-4, 6-4.
4)-Hayford (W) def. Morice (RL) 6-3, 6-2.
Doubles
1)-B. Alexander/Brandhagen (RL) def. Ulfers/Krueger (W) 6-3, 6-0.
2)-Knoll/Hoehn (W) def. Piepho/Werle (RL) 6-3, 6-4.
3)-S. Nelson/Zimmerman (W) def. J. Alexander/Hanson (RL) 6-1, 6-3.
Owatonna 4, Waseca 3
1)-McCann (O) def. Flor (W) 6-3,
6-3.
2)-Hayford (O) def. Collins (W) 7-6 (4), 6-2.
3)-G. Tellijohn (O) def. T. Nelson (W) 6-2, 6-4.
4)-Hartmann (O) def. Hayford (W) 6-1, 6-2.
Doubles
1)-Ulfers/Krueger (W) def. Kuehn/Strohschein (O) 6-3, 6-1.
2)-Knoll/Hoehn (W) def. C. Tellijohn/Voss (O) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
3)-Zimmerman/S. Nelson (W) def. Weltzin/Rahrick (O) 7-5, 6-2.
NEXT: Sept. 1-Waseca at Northfield, 3:45 p.m.
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