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PIRATE GIRLS TENNIS ADVANCES TO SECTION CHAMPIONSHIP

The #2 seed and #9 ranked Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team had beaten the Park Rapids Panthers twice by 5-2 scores twice during the regular season and knew they would need to play well to advance to the section championship. The Pirates looked to be focused and were ready for a battle as they played great in all seven spots in the lineup winning 6-1, to advance to the Section 8A Championship match against #8 ranked Staples-Motley at 10:00 AM on Friday at Courts Plus in Fargo, North Dakota. “This is the third time we have seen Park Rapids and the girls knew they would have to play well to beat them,” said Pirate Coach Cody Brekken. “We had a lot of good battles and the girls seemed to get stronger as the match went along.”

The first match complete was at first singles with Crookston’s Halle Winjum getting things off to a good start with a 6-1, 6-0 victory at first singles in a match that took 70 minutes. “For Halle to win the match convincingly was impressive,” said Coach Brekken. “She played a great match and that was a nice way to start.”

A few minutes later, the Pirate third doubles team of Morgan Nelson and Isabelle Smith cruised to a 6-1 6-1 victory to give their team a 2-0 lead. “They came out and played good tennis,” said Coach Brekken. “They made quick work of it and that was nice to see.”

Park Rapids picked up a win at first doubles with a 6-3, 6-1 victory, and Crookston’s lead was down to 2-1. “Park Rapids has a very good first doubles team that will be playing in the individual tournament and they showed that today,” said Coach Brekken. “Halle Bruggeman and Emma Gunderson played well, but they just ran into a tough opponent.”

The Pirates got a big win at fourth singles with Paige Abrahamson winning 6-3, 6-1 to give her team a 3-1 lead with three close matches still going. “Paige stayed on top the entire match,” said Coach Brekken. “She played well today.”

The final three matches were competitive matches and Crookston got the important match-clinching victory at third singles with a senior, Abby Borowicz solidifying her team’s return trip to the section championship with a 6-2, 6-3 victory. Borowicz led 4-3 and was given an update on how the matches were going and won the next two games to win the second set 6-3. “Abby was up and down in the match, but when it came down to crunch time she played better and picked up important points,” said Coach Brekken. “It was a big win and she finished it like we expected a senior and Abby to finish.”

The Pirates continued to pick up the victories as Brekken Tull, who is no stranger to long and competitive matches, had another long and competitive match with a hard-fought 7-5. 7-5 victory to give her team a 5-1 lead with the third doubles match in a third set. “Brekken is no stranger to long and competitive matches,” said Coach Brekken. “She played smart tennis today and was making her opponent work.”

Kaylie Clauson and Addie Fee teamed up again at second doubles and won the first set 6-2, before losing the second set 3-6, and bounced back to win the third set 6-2 to finish the match with a team victory of 6-1. “They played hard and bounced back with a nice win in the third set,” said Coach Brekken. “They seemed to get stronger as the third set went on and that was great to see.”

Crookston will take on Staples-Motley at 10:00 a.m. in the Section 8A Championship at Courts Plus and Fargo, North Dakota on Friday. KROX will be there and have updates.

Abby Borowicz
Paige Abrahamson
Addie Fee
Brekken Tull
Halle Bruggeman
Morgan Nelson
Kaylie Clauson
Halle Winjum
Emma Gunderson
Isabelle Smith
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