MAPLETON &045;&160;The sixth-ranked United South Central girls’ tennis team took its customary spot atop the Gopher Valley Conference on Saturday by dominating the conference meet.

Five champions and two runner-up finishes were more than enough to give the Rebels the conference crown for the third consecutive season.

The doubles were once again the power for USC as all three duos finished as champions.

Marie Halvorson and Kim Staloch dominated their opponents from Martin County West in the finals to win with ease.

Kallie Rollenhagen and Ashley Wermedal took care of the Maple River’s No. 2 doubles team in the finals, while Amanda Redman and Tiffany Adams concluded the sweep.

&uot;Doubles has been our strength all season long and it showed again,&uot; said USC head coach Randy Halvorson.

&uot;The matches weren’t even close.

I think we lost five or six game the whole day.&uot;

In singles action, Cassie Wood and Rebecca Leland claimed championships at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.

Kate Ostrowski finished second to MCW’s Megan Biehn, who is the defending

Section 2 champion, at No. 1, and Jill Stenzel was the runner-up at No. 4.

&uot;Kate played a great match and was hoping to avenge a tight loss to Biehn from earlier in the season,&uot; said Halvorson.

&uot;Now, she is just hoping for one more shot,&uot;

USC will look to build even more momentum with a couple of matches this week before beginning sections.

The Rebels, who have only lost a pair of matches all season, are back in action at Blue Earth tomorrow.