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Edina ends Burnsville tennis season on a sour notePosted: 5/24/02 by Todd Abeln Farmington If you just look at the box score, it appears the Farmington tennis team was blown out of the water in its opening round section match. But in fact, the match could have gone either way. The Tigersí season came to an end with a 7-0 loss to Owatonna in the first round of the Section 1AA playoffs. But the 7-0 score is deceiving because four of the seven matches went to three sets and three of those Farmington lost 5-7 or in a third-set tiebreaker. ìWe played a great match but the score doesnít look like it,î head coach Jack Olwell said. ìWe had a shot at winning the match.î The tightest game of the match came at No. 1 doubles where Micah Eisentrager and Matt Thelen lost in three sets 0-6, 6-2, 6-7 (2-7). At No. 2 singles, Josiah Hakala lost 1-6, 7-5, 5-7, while Jeff Engebretson lost at No. 3 singles 0-6, 6-3, 5-7. The other match to go three sets was at No. 2 doubles. Luke Otterblad and Nick McCarthy lost 4-6, 6-2, 0-6. The other three matches went only two sets, with the closest one being at No. 1 singles. There Rick Cox lost 4-6, 2-6. At No. 4 singles, Robert Brewer lost 0-6, 1-6 and at No. 3 doubles Chris McKnight and Tyler Schneider lost 1-6, 0-6. With so many closes matches, the team match could have gone either way. ìWe gave everything we had and put ourselves in a position to win,î Olwell said. Even though the season ended with the loss, Olwell was happy with the success of the team. The Tigers finished the season 7-6 after graduating seven players from last yearís squad. ìI was thrilled with the season,î Olwell said. ìItís hard to imagine this type of success. Some players really stepped up and played really good tennis.î For the second consecutive year, Farmington tennis will have high turnover rate. After losing seven players a year ago, the Tigers graduate five this year. Eagan It was a nice run. The Eagan tennis team made it to the section semifinals despite being seeded fifth at the beginning of the tournament. With the fifth seed, Eagan had to travel to Rochester in the opening round to face Rochester John Marshall. The Wildcats played really well against John Marshall and upset it 5-2. Getting the victories for Eagan were Mark Nippert at No. 2 singles and Tom Hamrock at No. 3 singles. The Wildcats swept the doubles competition with the teams of Drew Goodson and Alex Kranz, Stephen King and Tariq Bashir, and Kendal Garrison and Wayne Hu getting straight-set victories. ìIt was fun,î head coach Mike Remington said. With one upset under their belt, the Wildcats tried for another one against top-seeded Red Wing. Eagan pulled off the second upset with 4-3 victory at Red Wing. Getting wins in singles play were Aaron Reykdal at No. 3 singles and Nippert at No. 2 singles. In doubles play, King and Bashir won, as did Garrison and Hu. With its second upset behind it, Eagan next faced Rochester Mayo. Against Mayo, the fun ran out for the Wildcats. Mayo swept the match, winning 7-0. ìMayo is a great team,î Remington said. With the loss to Mayo, the team competition came to an end and now the team prepares for the singles and doubles competition. The Wildcats end the season with a 9-8 record. ìWe would have liked a better record, but how we played in the playoffs made up for that,î Remington said. Burnsville A season full of high expectations came crashing down on Tuesday. Burnsvilleís tennis season ended with a 7-0 loss to top-seeded Edina in the second round of the Section 6AA playoffs. ìWe thought we could get a 4-3 victory, but we didnít even get to first base,î head coach Don Gerlach said. Edina, a power in tennis for the last 20 years, played more efficient tennis as Burnsville struggled to prevent unforced errors. ìWe had a lot of double faults,î Gerlach said. Not one match went three sets. The closest match of the day was at No. 1 doubles, where Elliot Erickson and Jared Kemper lost 4-6, 4-6. Throughout the singles play, Edina cruised by winning all four matches in straight sets. At No. 1 singles, Tunde Abe lost 0-6, 3-6, while Diego Jaque-Pino lost 1-6, 1-6 at No. 2. Eric Colmark lost 0-6, 6-7 at No. 3 singles and Eric York lost 4-6, 2-6 at No. 4 singles. In the final two double matches, John Daly and Carson Friend lost 1-6, 0-6 and Mike Flavin and Alonsa Jaque-Pino lost 1-6, 0-6. To get to the match against Edina, Burnsville crushed Robbinsdale Cooper 7-0. ìIt was just the other way,î Gerlach said. The Blaze won all seven matches in straight sets, including three 6-0, 6-0. The three matches that went 6-0, 6-0 were wins by Colmark, York in singles and Daly and Friend in doubles. In the other four matches the Blaze also dominated. Abe won at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-2 and Jaque-Pino won 6-1, 6-2. At No. 1 doubles, Erickson and Kemper won 6-1, 6-1 and Flavin and Jaque-Pino won 6-2, 6-2. ìWe had a good day,î Gerlach said. The Blaze finished the season with a 5-9 record. In those nine losses, six of them were 4-3 losses, so if the Blaze would have cut down on their unforced errors, their record could have been much better. ìThings didnít pan out. We didnít serve very well and made too many unforced errors,î Gerlach said. Eastview In the toughest section in the state, the Eastview tennis team made it all the way to the section final. In the Section 6AA final, the Lightning lost to perennial power Edina 7-0. It is the farthest Eastview tennis has made it in its short history. Edina dominated the match by sweeping the singles matches in straight sets while winning two three-set matches in doubles. The No. 1 singles match featured two of the top tennis players in the state with Eastviewís Wayne Hu taking on Edinaís Charlie Setzer. Setzer won easily 6-0, 6-2. In the other three singles matches, Eastview won two games in six sets. The doubles competition was a little closer, with the No. 2 and 3 matches going to three sets. At No. 2 doubles, Eastviewís Dave Harris and Alex Sawka lost 7-6, 5-7, 5-7. The same fate befell Andy Weise and Eric Hart in No. 3 doubles, losing 2-6, 6-3, 5-7. But to get to the finals, Eastview had to win three matches in a row. To open the tournament, the Lightning dominated Richfield 6-1. With that victory, Eastview advanced to the quarterfinals against Robbinsdale Armstrong. Eastview dominated the match, winning 5-2. Getting victories for the Lightning were Hu at No. 1 singles and Derek Peterson at No. 2 singles. Eastview then swept the doubles with victories from Josh Palmer and Dan Vogel, Sawka and Harris and Weise and Hart. In their next match, the third-seeded Lightning faced the second-seeded Wayzata Trojans and upset them with a 5-2 victory. Against Wayzata, Eastview battled back to pull off the upset. In four of their five victories, the Lightning were down one set before battling back and getting the win. Battling back from down a set to get victories were Hu and Bona Ku in singles play and Palmer/Vogel and Weise/Hart in doubles. Peterson won in straight sets to help advance the Lightning to the section finals. With the team competition done, Eastview will turn its attention to singles competition next week. © Thisweek Newspapers |
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