Luverne will represent Section 3A at the Minnesota girls’ state tennis tournament Oct. 25 in Minneapolis.
The Cardinals won their first Section 3A team championship on Thursday, Oct. 6, in Sioux Falls.
After defeating Benson/KMS Co-op 4-3 in the tournament quarterfinals Oct. 5, Luverne took down Lac Qui Parle 4-3 in the semifinal round Thursday morning.
The Cards went on to defeat Pipestone 4-3 in an exciting contest on Thursday afternoon for the section championship.
“This was the goal at the start of the season,” said LHS coach Jon Beers.
“You never know just how good the other section teams will be each year, but I always felt that if we played our best, we had a really good chance at making it to state. I know the girls are excited for the opportunity to play some of the best teams in the state.”
The Cardinals will begin section individual tournament play Thursday, Oct. 13, with two entries in the singles competition and two teams in the doubles competition.
LHS 4, Benson/KMS 3
The Cardinals won three of the four singles matches and one of the three doubles over Benson/KMS Co-op in the quarterfinals.
Roselynn Hartshorn defeated Molly Jones 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Morgan Hadler won 6-0, 6-2 over Ella McGinty at No. 3 singles and Cassi Chesley defeated Megan Anders 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4 singles. Rayann Remme was beaten 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
Augusta Papik and Caitlin Kindt were the lone doubles winners for LHS with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Addie DeFoy and Kya Oakes at No. 3 doubles.
Sarah Stegenga and Katharine Kelm lost 7-5, 6-1 to Elise Duncan and Greta Multhauf at No. 1 doubles. At No. 2 doubles, Tori Hemme and Priscilla Muehr were beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Allana Hettlver and Milgo Adbi.
The match was to have been played on Tuesday, Oct. 4, but was postponed until Wednesday due to rain. Due to more rain after the match started on Wednesday, both teams got on busses and finished the match in Worthington.
“I was a little worried how the girls would do after the rain delay, but we got to Worthington and Augusta and Caitlin finished the match with a great tie-breaker win in their second set to get us the win,” Beers said.
LHS 4, Lac Qui Parle 3
In the semifinals the Cardinals used a different lineup for the 4-3 victory.
“We felt as a team we had a better chance for victory with a lineup change. We moved some girls from singles to doubles and they found a way to win,” Beers said.
Luverne was able to sweep the doubles matches and win one of the four singles matches.
At No. 1 doubles, Stegenga and Kelm defeated Claire Lowry and Kayla Jahn 6-3, 6-2. Hartshorn and Chesley moved over from singles and beat Kalista Bormann and Gertie Sieg 6-1, 7-5 at No. 2 doubles. Hemme and Muehr moved down from No. 2 doubles and defeated Tayler Jorgenson and Elsie Wiebe 6-4, 7-6 at No. 3 doubles.
At No. 1 singles, Remme was defeated by Katelyn Wittnebel 6-0, 6-0. Hadler moved from No. 3 singles to No. 2 and lost to Madelyn Matthies 6-1, 6-1. Papik moved from No. 3 double to No. 3 singles and was defeated 6-1, 6-2. Kindt also moved from No. 3 doubles and defeated Sadie Hocker in a thrilling 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 at No. 4 singles.
“It came down to Caitlin at four singles,” Beers said. “She split the first two sets with her opponent and the third set came down to a tie-breaker. Caitlin ended up winning the tie-breaker 9-7. She just did an awesome job.”
Luverne 4, Pipestone 3
In the championship, LHS kept the same lineup as the Lac Qui Parle match and again was able to win all three doubles matches and one of the singles matches.
Stegenga and Kelm defeated Madison Purdin and Alyssa Enger 6-2,7-5 at No. 1 doubles. Hartshorn and Chesley defeated Vivian Brockberg and Alicia Haack 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2 doubles, and Hemme and Muehr defeated Addison Draper and Laura Minet 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 doubles.
“I felt we should have been able to sweep the doubles against Pipestone with this lineup, and the girls just went out and did what they needed to do to get the win,” said Beers.
In singles, Remme was defeated by Toryn Woelber 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, Hadler lost to Brielle Kulm 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles, and Papik was defeated by Jenna Boeke 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 singles. Kindt was the lone singles winner, beating Jasmine Boeke in a three-set match 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 singles.
“Caitlin again had the match come down to her match, and again she was able to get the win. I think all the girls had a great day, but Caitlin was the last one on the court in both the semis and finals and was able to win both matches,” said Beers.
“I say it all the time, but I truly could not be prouder of these girls. We are going to the state tournament for the first time as a team, and it is going to be fun.”