Girls Tennis: Tigers open playoffs with sweep

LAKE CITY — In two regular-season meetings with Winona Cotter, the Lake City girls tennis team was dominant with two 7-0 sweeps.

And in the opening round of the Section 1A playoffs Wednesday, the No. 2-seeded Tigers continued their dominance over the No. 7 Ramblers with another 7-0 victory.

“We did pretty well,” said Lake City head coach Dave Toole. “I’m pretty happy with the way we played.”

Tigers senior Katie Wallerich added, “It’s exciting as a whole team knowing how far we can go. And it gives the team that momentum to push through.”

Amy Orthaus (No. 1 singles), Haley Webster (No. 2 singles), and the teams of Katie Coyle and Braeden McElmury (No. 2 doubles) and Emily Moechnig and Erica Hubbard (No. 3 doubles) all won in 6-0, 6-0 sweeps for Lake City.

In No. 1 doubles, Wallerich and partner Allison Harvey battled to a 6-4 first-set victory against Cotter’s Lauren Renk and Elizabeth Cooper. But in the second set, Wallerich and Harvey struggled to get going, falling behind 2-1.

“We always get in a dip,” Wallerich said. “We always pull ourselves back up because we have to tell each other to stay calm.”

While the senior pair has been together for just this season, Wallerich and Harvey have known how to work well together.

“You just know little trigger things that will make them mad or when they’re down or they’re doing something wrong,” Harvey said. “You know what they’re thinking.”

After trailing, the Tigers’ No. 1 duo won the next five points to take the 6-2 second-set win to clinch the match.

Lake City has six days to prepare before its next match in the section playoffs, taking on No. 3-seeded Cannon Falls on Tuesday in Owatonna. The Bombers advanced with a 6-1 victory over No. 6 seed Trinity School at River Ridge on Wednesday.

The Tigers went 2-0 against Cannon Falls.

“We just have to go one game at a time,” Harvey said.

Tags: girls tennis, lake city, sports, prep