Aaron Hagen
Daily Globe
WORTHINGTON - Kelly Newman found herself in an early hole.
But the sophomore on Worthington’s girls tennis team kept her composure during Thursday’s meet with Pipestone Area.
“She won the first two games, so I was hesitant the first half of the game,” Newman said.
But Newman was just getting warmed up.
She rallied for a 6-2, 7-5 victory over PA’s Serena Wipf at No. 3 singles.
“I think I did really well,” Newman said. “My serves and placement were good today.”
However, it was the Arrow team who came through with the 6-1 victory.
“Our team has been so good this year,” PA senior Lexi Carstensen said. “This is actually my first year out for tennis and I’m just really proud of how they’ve been doing. Last year, I think they only won two, this year we’ve won six. That’s a huge improvement. (Head coach Ed Gustafson) has been working us hard in practice.”
Carstensen said she worked hard in the offseason to make the transition.
“I was actually a volleyball player for seven years. It was something new. A lot of my friends are in it too. For my senior year I wanted to be in something that I really enjoyed and wanted to have fun in,” Carstensen said. “I worked all summer to do tennis and I did summer lessons. I arrived an hour early before so I played with the little girls and the big girls too, so I’d have the extra practice in there too.”
Carstensen, playing at No. 4 singles, defeated Worthington’s Coral Owens, 6-0, 6-0.
“I thought I did pretty well,” Carstensen said. “She had a couple goods strokes, but overall, I battled through it. It was really nice and she was really good competition.”
At No. 1 singles, PA’s Abby Steffan defeated Anna Kill 7-6 (7-0), 6-0.
“I think I did really well. I was definitely placing shots really well and moving pretty well,” Kill said. “On the second set, she came back and was hitting really, really good shots. She was hitting shots at the right place at the right time.”
WHS head coach Mike Marquardt was pleased with the performance of his singles.
“Anna Kill really came into her own today,” Marquardt said. “I was impressed with the longer rallies and the placement of shots and the overall patience. Kelly Newman had a tight second set, but what was nice was she kept her mental wits about her and pushed forward.”
At No. 2 singles, PA’s Lauren Lapthorn won a marathon match over Paige Stewart.
After Lapthorn won the first set, Stewart had a big lead in the second.
“I just thought to myself, ‘You don’t want to go to a third set,’” Lapthorn said. “I never want to go to that.”
The PA freshman rallied for a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) victory.
“I started off strong in the first set. She’s really good at net, so the second set was a little shaky,” Lapthorn said. “My serves were pretty good. I didn’t have many double faults, but my backhand wasn’t very good.”
PA won each of the doubles matches in two sets.
“We’ve had a decent year so far,” Gustafson said. “I wish we hit the ball a little stronger at times, but it’s been going pretty good for us. Our doubles teams have been pretty strong for us all year.”
At No. 1, PA’s Sarah Woelber and Kirsten Houg teamed for a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Erika Schutte and Shelby Larson.
At No. 2 doubles, the Arrow team of Tory Vanessen and Maya Bledsoe earned a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Whitney Donkersloot and Quinn Bents. The PA team of Paige Morgan and Aspen Schelhaas won 6-4, 6-1 over Katilyn Brunk and Tatyana Clark.
Both teams are in action Saturday, with Worthington traveling to Marshall and PA at St. James.
Luverne 7, Marshall 0
LUVERNE - Luverne head coach Greg Antoine said it was a strong effort from his team Thursday and the scores proved his point as the Cardinals earned a sweep of Marshall.
“We put everything together today,” Antoine said. “Everyone put forth a great effort and we got the results we were looking for.”
At No. 1 singles, Samantha Pierce won 6-1, 6-1, while Joci Oye won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2. Carissa Cunningham earned a victory at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-1, while Riley Severtson made it a clean sweep with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 4.
In doubles action, Tatiana Gust and Kayla Rud teamed at No. 1 to win 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, while Sierra Wieneke and Emily Wendland won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2. Susan Thompson and Brianna Jonason earned a 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 3 doubles.
The Cardinals host Worthington Tuesday.
