Albert Lea girls’ tennis team opens its 2019 season
Published 9:59 pm Wednesday, August 21, 2019
The girls’ tennis team was the first Albert Lea squad to kick off its regular season schedule Tuesday with a triangular in Rochester.
The Tigers dropped both matchups in their season opener with a 5-2 loss to the Panthers of Rochester Century and a 6-1 loss to the Rockets of Rochester John Marshall.
The two Tigers wins against the Panthers came from the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles slots. Kaedyn Kirchner and Hannah Conn came away with a 6-2, 7-5 win over their opponents in the No. 2 spot, and Alli Dulitz and Riley Johnson dominated the No. 3 doubles match with a 6-0, 6-2 win.
In the No. 1 singles spot, senior Samantha Skarstad lost in two sets, 6-3, 6-2. Junior Shelby Hanson lost at the No. 2 singles 6-0, 6-0; Maggie Moller dropped the No. 3 singles match after a close first set, 6-4, 6-0; and Madison Prihoda fell in the No. 4 singles spot with a 6-0, 6-1 loss.
The only doubles team to not pick up a win in the dual was the No. 1 team of Brooke Maier and Carley Talamantes.
Johnson and Dulitz were the only team to pick up a victory in the second matchup of the afternoon with a 6-0, 6-0 win in the No. 3 doubles spot.
In singles action, Skarstad fell, 6-1, 6-1, Hanson lost 6-0, 6-3, Moller lost a close two-set battle 6-4, 6-4 and Prihoda fell 6-2, 6-2.
Maier and Talamantes lost in the No. 1 doubles spot 6-1, 6-2; and Kirchner and Conn went 1-1 on the day with a 6-4, 6-2 loss in the No. 2 doubles match.
While Johnson and Dulitz are 2-0 on the season as a duo, the Tigers drop to 0-2 as a team. They will be back in action Thursday afternoon in Northfield against the Raiders and the Spartans of Rochester Mayo.
Dual results
Rochester Century 5, Albert Lea 2
SINGLES
1. Ancele Dolensek (RC) def. Samantha Skarstad, 6-3, 6-2
2. Julia Barber (RC) def. Shelby Hanson, 6-0, 6-0
3. Varsha Shan (RC) def. Maggie Moller, 6-4, 6-0
4. Kathleen Thompson (RC) def. Madison Prihoda, 6-0, 6-1
DOUBLES
1. Jenny Yan/Paige Sargent (RC) def. Brooke Maier/Carley Talamantes, 6-2, 6-2
2. Kaedyn Kirchner/Hannah Conn (AL) def. Zoey Chen/Camryn Rhude, 6-2, 7-5
3. Allison Dulitz/Riley Johnson (AL) def. Rita Dai/Sarah Nevenheim, 6-0, 6-2
Rochester John Marshall 6, Albert Lea 1
SINGLES
1. Chrisanne Kuester (JM) def. Samantha Skarstad, 6-1, 6-1
2. Sophie Geske (JM) def. Shelby Hanson, 6-0, 6-3
3. Alexis Locati (JM) def. Maggie Moller, 6-4, 6-4
4. Stacie Mullenbach (JM) def. Madison Prihoda, 6-2, 6-2
DOUBLES
1. Cameron Larson/Ginny Hull (JM) def. Brooke Maier/Carley Talamantes, 6-1, 6-2
2. Abby Herman/Gretchen Niglow (JM) def. Kaedyn Kirchner/Hannah Conn, 6-4, 6-2
3. Allison Dulitz/Riley Johnson (AL) def. Sarah Mullenbach/Emma Nelson, 6-0, 6-0