Maple Grove makes a breakthrough at girls tennis state tournament

Maple Grove's girls tennis players practiced Monday, ahead of the Class 2A team tournament. They played a game that they really liked, coach Dan Haertl said. He saw his players laughing, having fun and cheering for one another.

"That's how tennis should be," Haertl said. "When you let all the pressure kind of cave in on you, it makes things far more difficult."

That fun carried over into Tuesday's quarterfinals at the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center against familiar foe Elk River. Minutes after the Crimson No. 1 doubles team won 7-5, 6-3 to tie the team score at 3-3, their third-doubles teammates finished off a three-set comeback (2-6, 6-2, 6-3) for a 4-3 victory over the Elks.

That third-doubles pair, junior Addison Doherty and sophomore Livia Walseth, teamed up for the first time Tuesday. Doherty hadn't played in a match that counted for team points before, Haertl said.

"It was super exciting," Doherty said. "The emotions, everything just hits you at once. I just wanted to jump around."

They kept their celebration somewhat subdued on the court, however, when match point came on a double fault from Elk River. The Crimson players know Elk River well, and Walseth said they didn't cheer out of respect.

Walseth and Doherty's play and comeback were something to cheer about, after the Crimson pair dropped the first set. Haertl coached Walseth and Doherty at the changeover to "step it up a little bit," play to win rather than try not to lose. After they evened the match, the teams traded breaks to open the third set until Maple Grove broke for a 4-3 lead.

It's the first time in three consecutive trips to state that Maple Grove has advanced to the semifinals. They'll face top-seeded Rochester Mayo, which dispatched Brainerd 7-0 Tuesday. Mayo defeated the Crimson 7-0 on Aug. 26. Haertl pointed out that the pressure doesn't lie with his players but with Mayo, a good team that "beats everybody."

"I said to the girls, 'The worst we can do is fourth place,'" Haertl said. "We've never gotten fourth place at state. So, this time, we have that opportunity to do that."

Freshman Summer Ode was the only singles winner for Maple Grove in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-1 over Elk River sophomore Mya Nelson.

"I think today we really came in with a mind-set of 'we really want to win,'" Ode said. "And we really wanted to do this for each other."

The Crimson also lost 4-3 to Elk River at the end of September. Elks coach Randy Ronning said his team played well Tuesday.

"They [Maple Grove] just played a little bit better," Ronning said.

Maple Grove and Elk River played each other at the state tournament for the third consecutive year. In 2021, unseeded Maple Grove lost 4-3 to Blake in the quarterfinals before beating Elk River 4-3 for the consolation title. Last year, the quarterfinal bracket was the same as this year, with Elk River seeded fourth and Maple Grove fifth. Elk River took that match 5-2.

The Crimson also lost 4-3 to Elk River at the end of September during the regular season.

Maple Grove came into the state tournament on a high after upsetting No. 4-ranked Wayzata for the Class 2A, Section 5 title 4-3. Ode, who has been on the varsity since seventh grade, was key in that victory, too, defeating Tasha Piyabongkarn 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a 3-hour, 40-minute marathon match.

"I think it gave our team an extra boost," Ode said.

Elsewhere in the 2A tournament, Lake Conference foes Edina, seeded second, and Minnetonka, seeded third, will meet in the other semifinal. Edina defeated Mounds View 5-2, and Minnetonka defeated East Ridge 7-0.

The top four seeds advanced from Tuesday's quarterfinals at Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis. No. 1 seed Rochester Lourdes swept Luverne 7-0, and St. James defeated Crookston 4-3. Second seed Blake edged Providence Academy 4-3, and Pine City won 6-1 over New London-Spicer.