Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis Beat Wadena-Deer Creek

The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Tennis team was coming off a Section 8A split yesterday at East Grand Forks, defeating the host team 6-1 in their last match of the day. Crookston kept that momentum going, winning all seven matches, six in two sets each, to sweep Wadena-Deer Creek, 7-0 in another Section 8A match played on the courts in Detroit Lakes.
Crookston coaches decided to play seniors Kaylie Clauson and Addie Fee at number one doubles to see if they could get a rematch against Wadena’s top doubles team, who beat Fee and Clauson quickly in two sets back in the Crookston Tournament a couple of weeks ago. The Pirates got the match-up they wanted, and their top duo, playing one of the last matches of the day, sizzled from the start, winning the first set in quick fashion,6-0. The Pirate pair jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the second set, but Anna Fiemeyer and Kaylee Endres turned the tide to take a 5-2 lead. Clauson and Fee regrouped and won five straight points to take the set and the match at 7-5. “Addie and Kaylee played a great match,” said Crookston head coach Gina Gunderson, “we put them out there hoping to get the same matchup as in our tournament and switch the results, and that’s what happened, and Addie and Kaylee played outstanding taking charge from the start. It was a big win for the two.”
With the Crookston pair playing one doubles it meant the Pirate singles had some pressure put on them as they moved up in play, and all of them responded. “Paige, Ava, Emma, and Chloe all responded to the challenge,” said Gunderson, “They all won in two sets.” Emma Laplante was trailing 2-5 in her first set at number three singles, and she came back to win in a tie-break 7-6 and finished it off at 6-1. “I asked Emma after the match what was the difference, and she said confidence,” coach Gunderson added. In the second doubles match, Georgia Sanders and Logan Brekken were paired together and won an easy first set 6-1, lost the second set, then won a third set tie-break 10-4. The third doubles of Emelia Hoerner and Mariah Overgaard won the quickest match of the day with a pair of 6-1 victories. “It was a very good day for the Pirates,” said Gunderson, “we had a lot of girls playing in some different spots, and all of them came through. As Emma said it hopefully will bring some confidence to them.”
Crookston’s busy week and weekend continue for Crookston as they play at the Alexandria Quadrangular on Saturday. In addition to playing Detroit Lakes and Alexandria, Crookston will play one of the top teams in Minnesota, the Osakis Silverstreaks. Play starts at 10:00 AM at the huge Alexandria High School campus and tennis courts.