Pirate Girls Tennis Win 1, Lose 2 at Park Rapids Triangular

The Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team beat Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 5-2, and lost to Pequot Lakes 4-0 (in a rain-shortened match) and Park Rapids 5-2 at the Park Rapids quadrangular at the Depot Courts in Park Rapids.  The Pirates were missing five girls that were with the Crookston High School Marching Band at the Minnesota State Fair, so they brought one senior, one junior, two sophomores, a freshman and seven seventh and eighth graders.

CROOKSTON vs PARK RAPIDS-
The first match of the day started a little later than anticipated because the teams were waiting for the courts to dry off, but when the match started the Pirates won fourth singles with Halle Winjum winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 and the first doubles team of Catherine Tiedemann and Emma Borowicz winning 6-3, 6-1.  “Halle has been very good for us and only being a seventh grader, she looks like a veteran out there and played well,” said Pirate Assistant Coach Cody Brekken. “Catherine and Emma is our experienced doubles team and they played really well and made quick work of their match.”  The second doubles team of Macy Fee and Emma Gunderson won their first set but lost in three sets.  Emma Osborn also had a close match at third singles with a three-set match and a 10-7 loss in the third set.  “We had a seventh and eighth grader at second doubles and they played well and just came up a little short,” said Coach Brekken. “Emma is another “veteran” and she played well.  She seems like she is always going to three sets.”
After an hour delay for the match, the girls went out and played hard and played well. “Just about every match was competitive and mentally the girls came ready to play,” said Coach Brekken. “The girls played some good tennis after an hour delay.  You could tell the “veterans” out there because they looked good.”

Eden Haller with a return in her match vs LPGE

CROOKSTON vs LONG PRAIRIE-GREY EAGLE
The Pirates beat Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 5-2 and won the second, third and fourth singles in straight sets with wins from Emma Borowicz, Hannah Street, and Halle Winjum.  The first and second doubles teams also won in straight sets with the first doubles team of Emma Osborn and Eden Haller and the second doubles team of Emma Gunderson and Halle Bruggeman all winning comfortably.  Catherine Tiedemann lost to a solid opponent at first singles and the third doubles team lost a tight match.  “The seventh and eighth graders came out and won some matches and played well,” said Coach Brekken. “Catherine ran into a very good player from Long Prairie-Grey Eagle and played well, but came up short.”
It was nice for the young Pirates to get a win and they continue to show improvement each match. “They play hard and are learning as they play and you can tell they are getting after it out there,” said Coach Brekken. “They keep getting better each match and that is what we like to see.”

Brekken Tull with a baseline return in her LPGE match

Hannah Street eyes down the ball on a return

CROOKSTON vs PEQUOT LAKES
Crookston ran into their toughest opponent of the season in the final match of the day when they took on Pequot Lakes.  The teams finished four matches and rain moved in and forced the remaining matches to be called at the current score.  Pequot Lakes won the match 4-0 with three other matches on the court when the rain came, but the four victories were enough for an official score.  “Pequot Lakes is strong up and down and they have a lot of older players and a little bit of a different makeup than us,” said Coach Brekken. “It was good to see a team like Pequot Lakes and it gave us a chance to work on some things and see some top-notch competition.”
The rain was a factor all day long with sprinkles throughout all the matches and Coach Brekken was happy with how the team handled it. “I was proud of the girls all day,” said Coach Brekken. “It was misting most of the day, but they came ready to play and worked hard and didn’t let the rain bother them too much.  It was a good and competitive three matches.”
Crookston will travel to Moorhead on Friday.

Emma Osborn with a return from the baseline