By John Rittenhouse
Success in doubles competition proved to be the highlight of Luverne’s appearance at the annual Southwest Conference Tennis Meet played in Redwood Falls Thursday.
A pair of LHS doubles squads captured SWC championships, and another team placed second during the event.
Luverne’s titles came from the No. 1 team of Allana and Ashley Gacke and the No. 2 team of Gabe Van Dyk and Patricia Willers.
Seeded No. 3, the Gackes produced a surprise by winning the title at No. 1 doubles.
They beat Pipestone-Jasper’s Shana Haroldson and Shelly Ludolph by 7-5 and 6-4 scores in the quarterfinals before rolling to 6-1 and 7-6 victories over Redwood Valley’s No. 1-seeded team of Amanda Malecek and Olivia Schoffman in the finals.
Van Dyk and Willers were seeded No. 1 and backed the ranking while winning a pair of matches at No. 2 doubles.
They secured 6-3 and 6-2 wins over Marshall’s Ellie Ahmann and Missy Stassen in the quarterfinals before notching a pair of 6-1 victories over P-J’s Stephanie and Stacy Plahn in the championship match.
Cardinals Jenny Braa and Sarah Lange made a bid to take the title at No. 3 doubles before dropping a three-set match in the finals.
Seeded No. 1 for the event, the Luverne team posted 6-4 and 6-3 wins against Marshall’s Candice Grams and Lacy Scholten in the quarterfinals. Braa and Lange topped P-J’s Tory Hess and Vicki Van Vliet in the first set of the championship match before falling 7-5 and 7-6 in the final two sets.
Luverne secured a pair of third- and fourth-place performances in singles competition.
Amanda Aning was seeded fourth and placed third at No. 1 singles with a 1-1 record.
Rachel Tofteland was seeded second and placed third at No. 3 singles.
Chelsea Cronin drew the fifth seed and placed fourth with a 1-2 record at No. 4 singles.
Becky Antoine was seeded fourth and placed fourth at No. 2 singles with a 1-2 mark.
Luverne caps its regular season schedule by hosting Martin County West today.
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