Eden Prairie boys tennis team sets aside distraction, wins state quarterfinal

For Eden Prairie, playing in Tuesday's Class 2A team quarterfinals of the boys tennis state tournament was about tennis and nothing else, the way a state tournament trip should be.

The fifth-seeded Eagles, missing their head coach, who recused himself from coaching the team in the tournament, outlasted No. 4 seed Mahtomedi 4-3 in the most tightly contested quarterfinals match in Class 2A at Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

Eden Prairie coach Brent Lundell, enmeshed in a dispute regarding his employment as the Minnetonka girls tennis head coach, chose to sit out the state tournament because the dispute involved a current Eden Prairie player.

Lundell was replaced by assistant coach Dan Richards, who had been the head coach for seven years before Lundell took over.

Richards said his experience made the transition smooth.

"It was easy," he said. "We have a really hardworking group of kids who like each other. There was a little bit of drama, but it didn't affect the team."

Eden Prairie won all three doubles matches and got a victory from Dylan Pham at No. 4 singles to clinch the victory.

"Honestly, we just had to figure out what lineup to use, and I think we picked the right one," said Richard, a wide smile crossing his face. "We were hoping to win exactly how we won today."

Senior Anirudh Vadrevu, part of the controversy involving Minnetonka because of his role as an assistant coach with the Skippers, was impressed by his teammates' focus. Vadrevu lost at No. 1 singles to Mahtomedi's Sam Rathmanner in a superset tiebreaker, a system used when a match winner has already been determined.

"We're playing great," Vadrevu said. "Guys are competing great."

He then made a point of giving a nod to Lundell and lessons learned from him.

"One of the things Brent says is that it's not as much about winning as it is being the best person you can be," he said. "A lot of the guys bring that to the court, where they compete well, they try their best and they're never super down on themselves. I'm really proud of the way this team is competing."

Eden Prairie will play Lake Conference rival Wayzata, the tournament's No. 1 seed, in Wednesday's semifinals. Wayzata swept Becker 7-0 in the first match of the day. Wayzata beat Eden Prairie 7-0 during the regular season.

In the other Class 2A quarterfinals, No. 2 seed Rochester Mayo beat Eagan 7-0 and No. 3 seed Blake downed Elk River 7-0. The winners will face off in the other Class 2A semifinal.

In the Class 1A quarterfinals at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center, Rochester Lourdes beat Thief River Falls 6-1 and Rock Ridge, a newly formed co-op of Virginia and Eveleth/Gilbert, outlasted St. Peter 4-3 in the upper bracket. No. 1-ranked St. Paul Academy improved to 15-3 by beating Breck 7-0 and Foley beat Benson/KMS 6-1 in the other half of the bracket.

The winners will begin semifinals at 8 a.m. Wednesday, and finals in both classes will begin at 4 p.m.