Girls Tennis: Red Wing splits at home, beats East Ridge

The Red Wing girls tennis team split its triangular Saturday with Andover and Cretin-Derham Hall in Red Wing.

The Wingers beat the Raiders 5-2 to open the day but fell 4-1 to the Huskies in a dual where two matches did not finish due to rain.

Solveig Christenson won 6-2, 6-2 against Cretin-Derham Hall’s Sarah Polley at No. 1 singles and Kristen Anderson added a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory over Cece Donohue at No. 4 singles.

The No. 1 doubles team of Emily Stegora and Katie Kelly beat Louise Anderson and Sarah Haley 6-2, 6-2 while Lauren Brooks and Katie Carlson beat Mariah Montero and Hilde Hoeschen 7-6 (3), 6-1 at No. 2 doubles and the duo of McKenzie Muelken and Serena Feehan won 6-4, 6-0 at No. 3 doubles.

Red Wing had a tougher task in facing eighth-ranked Andover.

Stegora drew third-ranked Faith Lee at No. 1 singles and fell 6-3, 6-0.

“I looked at the scorecards in the first set showing Emily down 2-3 and I thought there must be some mistake,” Wingers head coach Randy Decker said. “Faith Lee is just way too good for any Red Wing player to play her that close. But Emily took three games that first set, the most, according to the Andover coach, that anybody has gotten off Faith in a set this year.”

Brooks and Maddie Flack got the only victory for Red Wing at No. 2 doubles with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kirsten Meister and Kalleigh Meister.

The Wingers led at No. 1 doubles 6-3 when it started raining and Kristen Anderson held a 6-4, 5-2 lead at No. 4 singles.

Red Wing 4, East Ridge 3

Red Wing head coach Randy Decker said that East Ridge has improved every season the two teams have met and the Raptors nearly pulled out a victory, but the Wingers held on for a 4-3 victory.

The decisive victory came at No. 2 doubles where Lauren Brooks and Katie Carlson rallied from a 4-6, first-set loss to win the next two sets 7-5, 6-2.

Katie and Lauren were down at each turn,” Decker said. “At 4-5 they started playing great. They are both players who perform better under pressure. It was really very impressive.”

Emily Stegora won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and Emily Otteson beat Nicole Robinson 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.

Serena Feehan and McKenzie Muelken won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 singles and are becoming formidable team, Decker said.

“We just put them together this weekend for the first time and they’re just crushing people,” Decker said. “They have just clicked.”

Their play has helped the team deal with an injury to senior Megan Clemmons. Clemmons sat out the Saturday meet and Monday, but is expected back this week. Clemmons normally plays at No. 1 doubles.

Tags: girls tennis, red wing, sports, prep