Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis beat Park Rapids, lost to TRF in Section 8A semi-finals

The Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team beat Park Rapids 6-1 before losing to Thief River Falls 4-3 in the Section 8A semi-finals played at Fargo Courts Plus in Fargo.

CROOKSTON vs PARK RAPIDS
The Crookston Pirates only beat Park Rapids 4-3 a week and a half ago, but they showed up ready to play in the first round of the section tournament as they beat Park Rapids 6-1.
The first match completed was third doubles and Crookston’s Lucy Smith and Taylor Schulz lost the first set 6-0. The Crookston duo bounced back to win the next set 7-5 to force a third set and the Pirates won 6-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Ava Martin won her match at third singles. She won the first set 6-3 and then won a hard-fought second set 7-5 to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
The Pirate second doubles team of Grace Boll and Madelyn Anderson won the first set 6-2 before winning the second set 6-4 to give Crookston a commanding 3-0 lead with four matches remaining.
Crookston’s Emelia Hoerner won the second singles match by winning the first set 6-2. She continued the stellar Pirate play in the second set with a 6-4 victory to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead, which assured the Pirates of advancing to the semi-finals.
Park Rapids won the fourth singles match in three sets to get within a 4-1 deficit.
Crookston finished strong. The first doubles team of Chloe Boll and Logan Brekken made quick work of their match, cruising to a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
The last match was first singles and Emma LaPlante won a good battle winning 6-4, 6-3 to give the Pirates a 6-1 victory.

CROOKSTON vs THIEF RIVER FALLS
In the Section semi-finals, Crookston had a great start. Eighth grader Lauren Tull dominated her match in a 6-2, 6-2 victory to give Crookston a quick 1-0 lead.
Thief River Falls answered with a win at third doubles with Mackenzie Lee and Kaitlyn Jahn beating Crookston’s Taylor Schulz and Lucy Smith 6-4, 6-1 to tie the match at 1-1.
The next two matches ended at the same time. Crookston’s first doubles team of Logan Brekken and Chloe Boll cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory, but Thief River Falls’ Olivia Schuster and Jaclyn Novak won the second doubles match 6-2, 6-4 to tie the match at 2-2.
Thief River Falls took the lead 3-2 when Piper Greene won a hard-fought match over Crookston’s Emelia Hoerner 6-3, 6-3. The first singles match finished shortly after as TRF’s Braylee Wienen, ranked around the top 10 all season long, came away with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over the Pirates’ Emma LaPlante to take a 4-2 lead.
The final match left was the best match of the day. Crookston’s Ava Martin won the first set at third singles by a 7-6 score with a 7-5 tie-breaker win. In the second set, it was another dandy, as Martin won 7-6 and 7-1 in the tie-breaker to bring the Pirates within a 4-3 deficit. Thief River Falls advances to the championship to take on Staples-Motley.

Crookston’s team season comes to an end with a 12-8 record and they say goodbye to the 10 seniors. The seniors are Madelyn Anderson, Ashlyn Bailey, Chloe Boll, Logan Brekken, Emelia Hoerner, Emma LaPlante, Ava Martin, Taylor Schulz, Lucy Smith, and Taylor Wieland.

Click below to listen to Coach Gina Gunderson’s comments.

Emma LaPlante

Chloe Boll

Lauren Tull

Ava Martin

Madelyn Anderson

Emelia Hoerner

Lucy Smith

Taylor Schulz

Grace Boll

Logan Brekken

Emma LaPlante

Chloe Boll

Lauren Tull

Ava Martin

Madelyn Anderson

Emelia Hoerner

Lucy Smith

Taylor Schulz

Grace Boll

Logan Brekken

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