The Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team’s Kaylie Clauson and Addie Fee lost their semi-final match, won their third-place match, and then in their third match of the day defeated Thief River Falls in two sets for a trip to state in a true-second-place match at the Section 8A Individual Tennis Tournament played at Courts Plus in Fargo.
FRIDAY –
Addie Fee and Kaylee Clauson beat Rachel Ulvin/Kate Dravis (Park Rapids) 6-2, 7-5 in the first round. The Pirate duo played a much better quarter-final match, beating Heidi Zimmerman and Madison Perius (Staples-Motley) 6-2, 6-4.
SATURDAY –
Clauson and Fee lost to Anna Fiemeyer and Kaylee Endres of Wadena-Deer Creek) in the semi-finals 6-1, 6-4. You might be able to blame the slow start on the fact the girls were at the homecoming dance on Friday night. “The first match was a struggle bus,” said Clauson. “We definitely struggled in the first set. We came back a little bit in the second set but still couldn’t pull it off. After the first match, we had to come back with a plan of how we were going to conquer that and keep going. The plan was we needed to play better together and have fun out there.”
The girls needed to win the third-place match and hope the WDC team they lost to won the championship. The first task was up to the Pirates as Fee and Clauson took on Perham’s Morgan Smith and Aubry Zimmerman. Clauson and Fee lost the first set 6-2, and things weren’t looking good. They bounced back to win the second set in impressive fashion by a 6-0 score! The Pirates continued to roll as they won the third set 6-3. “After the first set, we heard that Wadena-Deer Creek beat Thief River Falls and said that is our chance to go to state,” said Fee. “We just kept going, and in the back of our heads, we knew we could go to state twice (as a team and individual).” Now the girls focused their attention and cheering to the championship match where WDC’s Anna Fiemeyer and Kaylee Endres won the championship in straight sets to advance to state. More importantly for the Pirates, it allowed Clauson and Fee to play for true second and a trip to the state individual tournament.
Clauson and Fee battled Thief River Falls’ Piper Green and Brianne Ellison in the true second match. The Pirates came out strong and won the first set in a great back-and-forth battle by a 6-4 score. It was all Crookston in the second set as Clauson and Fee looked determined to make it to the state doubles tournament. They were dominant in the second set for a 6-0 victory to win the match and finish second place for a trip to the state tournament. “I feel like we started off a little slow start, but as the day went along we started to play like we usually play. Aggressive and smart,” said Fee.
