The Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team played better than they did a week ago, but the #10 ranked Thief River Falls Prowlers were too strong and won 6-1 in a Section 8A dual before Crookston fell in a non-Section dual 4-3 against the Moorhead Spuds in a triangular hosted in Crookston.
CROOKSTON VS THIEF RIVER FALLS
Crookston’s lone victory came at second singles with Halle Winjum winning by an impressive 6-1, 6-3 score as the eighth-grader continues to show tremendous growth in each match she has played this season. “She is playing great tennis right now,” said Coach Brekken. “She is a competitor and works hard, and it has been fun watching her continue to improve as she has.”
Another highlight was Crookston Freshman, Halle Bruggeman. She lost her fourth singles match but lost 6-4, 6-4 in a solid match. “Halle hasn’t played a lot of singles matches, but she has shown that she is also a strong singles player,” said Coach Brekken. “She is a strong player, and the harder her opponent hits the ball at her, she hit it back faster.”
Hayden Winjum also had a tight match with a 6-4, 6-3 loss and the second doubles team of Emma Osborn and Hannah Lindemoen lost a three-setter. “They played some good tennis, and we saw a lot of improvement there,” said Coach Brekken. “It was nice to see them compete as they did, and it was a better result than last week.”
Overall, Coach Brekken was happy with the improvement his team continues to show. “It was a big improvement from last week when we lost to Thief River Falls,” said Coach Brekken. “From top to bottom they (TRF) are strong. They hit every ball back and have strong and consistent play throughout the lineup.”
| CROOKSTON- 1 | Thief River Falls-6 | Win | Score | |
| 1st Sin | Hayden Winjum | Emma Fagerstrom | TRF | 6-4, 6-3 |
| 2nd | Halle Winjum | Brooklyn Broadwell | CROX | 6-1, 6-3 |
| 3rd | Emma Gunderson | Ava Yaska | TRF | 6-1, 6-2 |
| 4th | Halle Bruggeman | Bell Hamre | TRF | 6-4, 6-4 |
| 1st Dubs | Catherine Tiedemann Emma Borowicz |
Bela Nelson Khloe Lund |
TRF | 6-2, 6-2 |
| 2nd | Emma Osborn Hannah Lindemoen |
Brea Prickett Gabby Steele |
TRF | 1-6, 6-1, 10-6 |
| 3rd | Audrey Harbott Eden Haller |
Brooklyn Brouse Abby Flaagen |
TRF | 6-0, 6-1 |
CROOKSTON VS MOORHEAD
The Pirates returned to the courts in the late afternoon to take on the Moorhead Spuds in a non-Section dual. Catherine Tiedemann provided Crookston’s first win in second singles cruising to a 6-2, 6-2 win. “Catherine (Tiedemann) is playing her best tennis right now,” noted Brekken. “She was painting lines. Moving her opponent around and after about four or five games, her opponent was just done, essentially.” Halle Winjum was impressive in third singles taking her match 6-1, 6-1. “Halle does it in her patented way,” said Brekken. “Her match was a little over two hours. She got started first but just hit every shot back, and her opponent was the same type of player, but within these 25 to 30 shot rallies, Halle just seemed to be winning all of them. The part of her game that’s improving is she’s finding those opportunities to get to the net and shorten the length of some of these shots and hitting winners.” The Pirates lone doubles win came in second doubles as the pairing of Eden Haller, and Hannah Lindemoen won a tight match 3-6, 6-2, 10-6. All three doubles matches went to the tiebreaker set, with Moorhead winning at first and third doubles to win the dual 4-3. “We’ve had just so many of these tight matches not go our way, but all three of these double matches we played well in them,” summarized Brekken. “We competed hard all the way until the end. We had the same type of tennis everywhere. We were aggressive at the net, but lobbing shots when we needed to. We just didn’t get enough of them to go our way. We’re getting closer here. These two teams have a lot of girls out and are solid from top to bottom. Our girls still came out and played really tough today. I’m excited to see these last few weeks and get back to some other section opponents. We’re leaning forward and improving at the right pace, which is exciting to see here.”
The Pirates fall to 6-9 in duals on the year and will return to the courts next Tuesday, September 17 when Crookston travels to the Bemidji Triangular to take on Bemidji and Detroit Lakes beginning at 3:30 P.M.
| CROOKSTON- 3 | Moorhead-4 | Win | Score | |
| 1st Sin | Hayden Winjum | Katryna Hanson | MOR | 6-4, 6-4 |
| 2nd | Catherine Tiedemann | Nicole Haagland | CROX | 6-2, 6-2 |
| 3rd | Halle Winjum | Emma Craig | CROX | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 4th | Halle Bruggeman | Lydia Gross | MOR | 6-3, 6-3 |
| 1st Dubs | Emma Borowicz Emma Osborn |
Kylie Dumas Azylan Lunak |
MOR | 7-6, 6-7 (10-6) |
| 2nd | Eden Haller Hannah Lindemoen |
Rachel Craig Bailey Overbo |
CROX | 3-6, 6-2 (10-6) |
| 3rd | Audrey Harbott Brekken Tull |
Ashley Knutson Anna Korsmo |
MOR | 6-3, 2-6 (10-8) |
