The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Tennis doubles pairings of Catherine Tiedemann and Emma Borowicz, along with Hayden Winjum and Halle Winjum each won their first two matches advancing to the semifinals of the Section 8A Individual Tournament hosted at the Fargo Courts Plus facility in Fargo, N.D.
Crookston’s two singles players in the tournament, Emma Osborn and Hannah Lindemoen, each lost their first-round matches ending their seasons, but not without gaining valuable experience. Osborn dropped a hard-fought match against Maggie Dietrich of East Grand Forks 6-2, 6-3. “For Emma being relatively new to singles, by the end of the year, she played about two weeks of consistent singles at fourth singles in our line-up,” explained Crookston head coach Cody Brekken. “She came out and gave East Grand Fork’s number-one singles player a really tough match. Emma hits a really hard ball, and her consistency is only getting better. That was really good to see her go out that way. Nobody likes losing, but she was playing her best tennis at the end of the year.”
Hannah Lindemoen dropped a difficult match against Perham’s top player Jade Lenius falling 6-0, 6-1. “Hannah played the two-seed and the number-one singles player from Perham,” noted Brekken. “It was still about a 1:30 match. A lot of really long rallies. Hannah is in the same boat as (Emma Osborn), they’re both sophomores. They can each hit the ball really hard. Hannah’s got a better serve, and even against Jade (Lenius) she was giving her problems. Even though she lost, she was also playing her best tennis at the end of the year.”
Crookston’s sixth-seeded doubles team of Hayden Winjum and Halle Winjum saw the sisters win their first match over a duo from Park Rapids before pulling off an upset over third-seeded Roseau’s Kiersten Flaig and Lindsay McFarlane with a thrilling 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) win to earn a spot in Thursday’s semifinals. “Their first match was kind of the perfect precursor to set up their confidence in their doubles,” added Brekken. “They were really aggressive at the net. They got comfortable hitting more winning shots that you have to do in doubles. They played really well (in that first match). They then played Roseau’s number-one doubles team. It was a crazy match. They were good players, and we played a lot of conservative tennis. We beat them with lobs. We made a lot of mistakes, but the opponents did as well. We were down 3-0 in the third set, but the girls never gave up, and they clawed all the way back. Emotions were high, but they were able to pull out the win in that one.”
The Pirates top-seed entering the individual tournament was the doubles pair of Catherine Tiedemann and Emma Borowicz, and they looked the part winning their first match over a team from Parkers Prairie 6-0, 6-1 before beating the second doubles team from Thief River Falls 6-4, 6-0 to earn their spot in the semifinals. “They opened with the number-one doubles team from Parkers Prairie,” said Brekken. “We beat them quickly and got a good warm-up for the Thief River pair. They were the seventh-seed, and they were tough. (Borowicz and Tiedemann) were playing their best tennis that I’ve seen them play all year. Emma’s really kind of refined her doubles play, and Catherine has been playing a lot of singles all year, but they’re both really mobile and tough at the net.”
After Crookston Boy’s tennis had a match-up between their two doubles teams last spring, the two Pirate Girl’s doubles teams now will meet in the semifinals a few months later, a note that wasn’t lost of Brekken, “I don’t know what kind of luck I’m having with these brackets,” Brekken joked.
“The only thing I’m looking for is are the girls playing the best tennis I’ve seen them play,” summarized Brekken. “I can confidently say at all six spots the girls were playing to the best of their abilities. I’m really happy with all of their performances today.”
Tiedemann and Borowicz play Hayden and Halle Winjum in the semifinals tomorrow at 9:00 A.M. The winner will play for the Section championship at 11:30 A.M.
| Singles | Opponent/Result | Place |
| Emma Osborn | Lost to Maggie Dietrich – East Grand Forks (6-2, 6-3) | DNP |
| Hannah Lindemoen | Lost to Jade Lenius -Perham (6-0, 6-1) | DNP |
| Doubles | ||
| Catherine Tiedemann Emma Borowicz |
Beat Hannah Samuelson/Aili Toyli – Parkers Prairie (6-0, 6-1) Beat Brea Prickett/Brooklyn Broadwell – Thief River Falls (6-4, 6-0) Play Hayden Winjum/Halle Winjum – Crookston in the semifinals Thursday at 9:00 A.M. |
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| Hayden Winjum Halle Winjum |
Beat Macy Goochey/Morgan Koppelman – Park Rapids (6-2, 6-1) Beat Kiersten Flaig/Lindsay McFarlane – Roseau (6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4)) Play Catherine Tidemann/Emma Borowicz – Crookston in the semifinals Thursday at 9:00 A.M. |
