The Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team’s Catherine Tiedemann and Emma Borowicz finished second place and will advance to the state tournament for the second year in a row and Hayden and Halle Winjum finished third place in the Section 8A Individual Girls Tennis doubles tournament at Courts Plus in Fargo.
SEMI-FINALS
The first set was tight throughout the match, but Tiedemann and Borowicz pulled away at the end to win the first set 6-4. The second set was tied at 2-2 before Tiedemann and Borowicz won the last four sets to win 6-2.
Tiedemann and Borowicz advance to the Section Championship where they will take on the #1 seed, a duo from Thief River Falls.
The Winjum’s will play in the third-place match and they need to win the match and hope for Tiedemanna and Borowicz to win their championship match for a chance at a true second match. “It was a match that I don’t coach. I meet with them before and told them to play hard all the way through. I know the girls didn’t like playing each other, but they played well and played hard,” said Pirate Coach Cody Brekken. “It was a great match with a lot of deuces and it was the best both pair played all year and that was nice to see.”
CHAMPIONSHIP
Catherine and Emma lost the first set 6-2, but bounced back in the second set to take a 2-1 lead. The Pirates continued to play some great tennis and won two more games to take a 4-1 lead. Thief River Falls stormed back and won six of the next seven games and the Prowlers won the match 6-2, 7-5 to win the championship. “They lost to the same Thief River Falls team earlier this year 6-2, 6-2,” said Coach Brekken. “They played a tough match and played better as the match went along and that was nice to see.”
THIRD PLACE MATCH
Hayden and Halle had a lead early in the first set, but the duo from East Grand Forks battled back to win the first set. The Winjum’s answered in a big way and took a 2-1 lead early in the second set and continued to dominate and had a 5-2 lead. It was this point in the match that the Winjum’s knew they didn’t have a chance to advance to state because Tiedemann and Borowicz had lost their match. There was still a lot to play for because a Pirate win would assure Tiedemann and Borowicz they were going to state for the second straight year and the Winjum’s wanted to finish third place. The East Grand Forks duo won the next two games to cut Crookston’s lead to 5-4. The Winjum’s continued to battle and won the second set 7-6, 7-4 in the tie-breaker to tie the match at one set each. In the third set, the Crookston duo seemed to wear down their opponents and pulled away for a 6-3 victory for a third-place finish. “There were a lot of angles with the match as far as a possible true second match or winning help your teammates make a trip to state,” said Coach Brekken. “Hayden and Halle really played well in the second and third sets.”
The Winjum victory was big for the Winjum’s to get a third-place finish, but the win was huge for Tiedemann and Borowicz because they were assured a second-place finish and a return trip to the state tournament. “I am proud of all four girls,” said Coach Brekken. “They played hard and represented Crookston Pirate Tennis in the best way possible. It was a good day and they competed as hard and well as they could and they have a lot of be proud of.”
| 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) THURSDAY – Beat Hayden Winjum/Halle Winjum – Crookston 6-4, 6-2 Lost to Khloe Lund and Bela Nelson of TRF in the Championship 6-2, 7-5 (finished 2nd place) |
| 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) THURSDAY- Lost to Catherine Tiedemann/Emma Borowicz – Crookston 6-4, 6-2 Beat Katelyn Farder and Delaney Aakre – EGF 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in 3rd place match |
