PIRATE GIRLS TENNIS CRUISES TO WIN OVER ROSEAU, EDGES EGF

The Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team started the season with a 7-0 victory over the Roseau Rams Thursday morning and won a hard-fought match over the East Grand Forks Green Wave by a 4-3 score to open up the season in matches played at the Ray Ecklund complex tennis courts in Crookston. 

CROOKSTON vs ROSEAU – 
It was a tale of two different teams as Roseau graduated 12 seniors from last year’s team and Crookston had everybody back but two players from last year’s team and are the Section 8A Girls Tennis favorite.  

Crookston took advantage of their experience and cruised to a 7-0 victory over the Roseau Rams.  Crookston dominated play and only lost nine games in the match.  “The girls played well and came out and worked hard and gave it their all,” said Crookston Coach Sue Tiedemann. “We played well in all of the matches and I was glad to see them getting their serves in.”

In singles, Crookston’s Emma Osborn won at first singles with a 6-0, 6-1 win.  Hayden Winjum won at second singles with a 6-0, 6-0 score.  Third singles was won by Crookston’s Brekken Tull, and Kaylie Clauson won at fourth singles with a 6-0, 6-1 score.  “I knew what I was getting from one and two because they have played forever and they did what they needed to do,” said Coach Tiedemann. “I was pretty impressed with our three and four singles with Brekken Tull who got their best athlete today and she had a good win.  Kaylie Clausen looked really good and had her feet moving well.”

In doubles, Crookston made quick work of all the matches with Halle Bruggeman and Halle Winjum teaming up to win first doubles by a 6-1, 6-1 score. “That is the first time they played together and they looked really good and they meshed well,” said Coach Tiedemann.  Emma Gunderson and Hannah Lindemoen won second doubles 6-0, 6-0, and third doubles with Abby Borowicz and Addie Fee won 6-0, 6-2.  “Emma Gunderson anchored the second doubles team with Hannah Lindemoen and they looked nice together,” said Coach Tiedemann. “Addie Fee and Abby Borowicz played well together and are getting used to each other.”

Coach Tiedemann said this is a deep team and competition will be tough in practice as girls try to make the lineup with a talented J.V. team. 

CROOKSTON vs EAST GRAND FORKS
Crookston swept the doubles and got a big win at third singles to beat East Grand Forks 4-3 in a match that had four four-set matches (Crookston winning two and East Grand Forks winning two).  “It was a nice match, pretty competitive, it was a good way to start our first day,” said Coach Tiedemann.

In singles, Brekken Tull won a challenging match by beating Lila Rothenberger 6-3, 7-5 to earn the only win for Crookston. “Brekken will grind out there all day and was out there for some really long points,” said Coach Tiedemann. “She is a competitor and did really well and had some nice angles on her shots and has a great attitude.”
East Grand Forks has two very good singles players with Maggie Dietrich and Brynn Havis and they won the two hard-fought matches in three sets over Crookston’s Hayden Winjum and Emma Osborn. “That was good for them to hit that kind of competition right away.  Emma had good match as she battled and played well and it came down to a difference of two points.  That was fun to see her play well and bounce back,” said Coach Tiedemann. “Hayden did an excellent job.  She has played Maggie Dietrich, who is one of the better players in the area.  I thought Hayden did well and battled the entire match.”

Doubles was a different story as Crookston won all three matches.  The first doubles team of Halle Bruggeman and Halle Winjum won a three-set match with a 10-3 win in the third set.  “They put it together after losing that first set and East Grand Forks has some aggressive players,” said Coach Tiedemann. “They did a nice job and figured it out on their own and are starting to work together.”
The second doubles team of Emma Gunderson and Hannah Lindemoen won their match in straight sets.  “I thought they did a great job and they played well,” said Coach Tiedemann. “They are getting into a bit of a groove which is nice to see.”
The doubles sweep was completed by the third doubles team of Abby Borowicz and Addie Fee who won the first set easily, lost the second set and bounced back to win the third set 10-8.  “That first set was a little closer than 6-2 and they got behind early in the second set,” said Coach Tiedemann. “They did a good job of bouncing back and winning the third set for a nice win.”

Crookston improves to 2-0 on the season and will host the Crookston Invitational on Saturday in Moorhead.  “It was a good start and ended up taking a little longer than we had thought, getting done at 6:30, but it is a good way to start the season,” said Coach Tiedemann.