The Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team beat the Section 8A defending champion Roseau Rams 4-3 and lost to East Grand Forks 4-3 in a triangular played at the Crookston High School tennis courts.
CROOKSTON vs ROSEAU-
The Pirates opened section play with a 4-3 victory over the Roseau Rams by winning three of the four doubles matches. Hayden Winjum won her second singles match in straight sets, Eden Haller won a hard-fought third singles match and Emma Osborn won a long three-set match at fourth singles. The third doubles team of Audrey Harbott and Hannah Lindemoen won 6-4, 6-4. “We had different types of wins with Eden and Emma grinding out wins and Hayden won the first set and it was close and won the second set pretty easily,” said Crookston Coach Mike Geffre. “The third doubles team played very well and played some good doubles.”
In the three losses, Crookston played well and had competitive matches and the full line up was noticed. “It was nice to get a win early and I know Roseau was missing a player and that hurt, but early in the season a win is a win,” said Coach Geffre. “We had all our upperclassmen available today and that helped us.”
Hayden Winjum with a forehand return Hannah Street with a baseline return
| Crookston-4 | Roseau-3 | Winner | Score | |
| 1st Singles | Catherine Tiedemann | Kiana Flaig | Ros | 6-4, 6-3 |
| 2nd | Hayden Winjum | Jayda McFarlane | Crox | 7-5, 6-0 |
| 3rd | Eden Haller | Haylee Bennett | Crox | 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 |
| 4th | Emma Osborn | Madi Verbout | Crox | 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 |
| 1st Doubles | Hannah Street Emma Borowicz |
Kiersten Flaig Lindsay McFarlane |
Ros | 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 |
| 2nd | Elysa Christensen Jada Dillabough |
Charlene Grahn Olivia Urness |
Ros | 6-3, 6-3 |
| 3rd | Audrey Harbott Hannah Lindemoen |
Kelsey Buley Catie Glodowski |
Crox | 6-4, 6-4 |
| 4th Exhibition |
Emma Gunderson Halle Winjum |
Emma Haugen Ella Trangsrud |
Ros | 6-2, 6-4 |
CROOKSTON vs EAST GRAND FORKS
Crookston won three singles matches, but East Grand Forks won the fourth singles and all three doubles matches for a 4-3 victory. Crookston’s Hayden Winjum won her first singles match, Catherine Tiedemann won at second singles and Hannah Street won her third doubles match for the three Pirate victories. Crookston was close to winning the match as the third doubles match went to a super tie-breaker and EGF won 10-7. “I am guessing if we totaled up all the games, the score would be pretty close. It was a pretty good match, we lost a lot of players from last year and East Grand Forks returns most of their players so we will take a 4-3 loss right now,” said Coach Geffre. “At third doubles, it was a good match and losing 10-7 comes down to a couple point swing so it was very close.”
Crookston is 1-1 in section play and 2-4 overall in duals and will get ready for the Carla Johnson Memorial tournament on Saturday. “We will have some good competition and it looks like we have to work on our doubles a little bit,” said Geffre. “Usually we are pretty solid at doubles and need to work on singles, but most of our wins today came at singles, so we have some things to work on. The girls continue to improve and it is nice to see them competing and getting better each match.”
Elysa Christensen chases down the ball in the Roseau match
| Crookston-3 | EGF-4 | Winner | Score | |
| 1st Singles | Hayden Winjum | Maggie Dietrich | Crox | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 2nd | Catherine Tiedemann | Katelyn Farder | Crox | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 3rd | Hannah Street | Thea Haaven-Farstad | Crox | 6-2, 6-1 |
| 4th | Audrey Harbott | Kendal Rand | EGF | 6-1, 6-0 |
| 1st Doubles | Emma Borowicz Hannah Lindemoen |
Jenna Dietrich McKenna Aitchison |
EGF | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 2nd | Elysa Christensen Eden Haller |
Delaney Aaker Brynn Havis |
EGF | 6-0, 6-1 |
| 3rd | Emma Osborn Jada Dillabough |
Aleah Hangsleban Emily Stroot |
EGF | 4-6, 6-0, 10-7 |
| 4th Exhibition |
Emma Gunderson Halle Winjum |
Hanah Kenedy Burris |
Crox | 3-6, 6-4, 10-4 |
