Hi-Liner tennis EDC state qualifiers
Courtesy of Coach Nielson
The Hi-Liners had four seeds for the first time ever and each of those seeds made it to the quarterfinals at the EDC tournament for the first time ever. Breck Sufficool and Olivia Ingstad state qualified in doubles for the second year in a row earning the #7 spot. Kailee Nielson qualified in singles, the first Hi-Liner girl to do so since 2017, in the #7 spot as well. Breck Sufficool was named All-EDC for the second time. Results for all HiLiners:
#5 Seed Breck Sufficool and Olivia Ingstad (Doubles)
Rd1: Defeated Uggerud/VonPinnon(WF) 6-0, 6-1
Quarterfinal: Lost to #4 Spanjer/ Latunski(FN) 7-5, 6-3
State Qualifier: Defeated Lemieux/ Blue(GFC) 6-0, 6-3
Consolation Semis: Lost to #2 Abbott/ Wolf(Shan) 6-4, 6-3
7th Place Match: Defeated #8 Spicer/ Lommen(GFRR) 6-0, 6-0
#7 Seed Kailee Nielson (Singles)
Rd1: Defeated Kellan Taragos(FN) 6-2, 6-4
Rd2: Defeated #10 Kaitilyn Carlson(WF) 6-1, 6-2
Quarterfinal: Lost to #2 Paige McCormick(FD) 6-0, 6-1
State Qualifier: Defeated #8 Mallory Pladson(FN) 6-0, 6-0
Consolation Semis: Lost to #6 Sarea Gu(Shey) 7-6(6), 6-2
7th Place Match: Defeated Mary Wolf(Shan) 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-0
#9 Seed Georgia Zaun (Singles)
Rd1: Defeated Lillian Anderson(W) 6-1, 6-0
Rd2: Defeated #8 Mallory Pladson(FN) 6-4, 6-2
Quarterfinal: Lost to #1 Mimi Gu(Shey) 6-0, 6-0
State Qualifier: Lost to Mary Wolf(Shan) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
#10 Seed Abby Martineck and Abby Redfearn (Doubles)
Rd1: Defeated #7 Dodge/Comings(W) 7-6(8), 6-3
Quarterfinal: Lost to Beeter/Thompson(Shey) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
State Qualifier: Lost to #8 Spicer/ Lommen(GFRR) 6-7(5), 6-0, 7-5
Unseeded Alyssa Thomsen (Singles)
Rd1: Lost to Emma Moe(GFRR) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
Consolation Rd1: Defeated Cassie Youngquist(FS) 6-0, 7-6(3)
Consolation Rd2: Lost to Lucy Tharaldson(Shan) 6-0, 6-1
Thoughts:
We have had an awesome year leading to state qualifying as team, earning the #3 seed. After the team competition, the coaches seed the individuals tournament and Valley City earned four seeds. These four seeds lived up to expectations as they all made the quarterfinals on Friday. We didn’t break into any semifinals which meant that all four would play at 9am indoors at Courts Plus on Saturday in a state qualifying match.
Alyssa Thomsen played in her first regional tournament earning two wins in team competition and another win in the individual singles tournament. This was her first varsity singles
win of her career. Excellent tournament Alyssa. Alyssa went from our #15 last season to our #7 this year. She will be a force to contend with next season if she keeps improving at this pace!
Georgia Zaun has made a huge run this season. She was undefeated in singles in EDC play. She took 6th place at the WF Invite at #2 singles. Georgia was 3-0 in team regionals. And she knocked off the #8 seed in the individual tournament to make the state qualifying match. In that match Georgia had a rematch against a super consistent player. Mary won that match in a heartbreaking 3 setter. Keep your head up Georgia - you are doing fantastic!
Abby and Abby saved their best doubles for the individual tournament. They were hitting balls hard and deep. They were attacking at the net. They were playing consistent. It was so much fun to watch. They ran into a Sheyenne team that was on fire in the quarterfinals and lost in
three sets. In the state qualifier, the #8 team from Red River brought their ‘A’ game as well. We were up 5-4 in the third set, but Red River battled back and eventually took the match. It was amazing tennis by our girls and they should be very proud of how they played and fought!
Kailee earned the #7 seed and cruised in her first two matches. Against the #2, she ran down every ball and made her work. In the state qualifying match, her athleticism and smarts led to a 6-0, 6-0 win. She played two more matches for seeding beating Mary in three sets to claim the #7 seed. She is the first 8th grader since Reagan Ingstad to qualify individually and only the 2nd singles state qualifier for the girls in over 18 years.
Breck and Olivia have been battling injuries all year. They broke through and state qualified beating a good GFC team. In their 7th place match, they found their * mojo. They were moving,
serving well, and attacking. The best part is that they portrayed confidence and had fun the entire match. They didn’t drop a game winning 6-0, 6-0. These two have been our leaders all season and they continued their leadership by example on the court this tournament. Congrats ladies.
Looking ahead, we will have a state send-off on the south side of the HAC at 3pm on Wednesday in which the public is invited to attend. Our
team play starts at 10am at Choice Health and Fitness in Grand Forks against #2W Bismarck Legacy. Individuals start on Friday. Kailee lines up with the west’s #2 in Felderman. Kailee took a set off of her in the Sheyenne Invite. Breck and Olivia will have the #2W in the first round of a wide open doubles tournament. The seeds won’t matter and anything can happen in the doubles.
I LOVE being a HiLiner!