TRF girls tennis team opens season with wins

The Thief River Falls girls tennis team competed for the first time since last year’s Class AA consolation championship and came away with dual meet wins against a pair of traditionally strong opponents in Pequot Lakes and Osakis Friday at Pequot Lakes High School.

Head Coach Shawn Spears, now in her third season in charge of the Thief River Falls girls tennis program, said she expected a pair of close matches.

“Having not played them last year but knowing of their reputation, we knew they were going to be good competitive matches,” Spears said. “We went in with a young and fairly inexperienced team – returning only four players that were in the top 10 lineup last season.”

Despite the turnover from last year’s section championship roster and four days of practice, the Prowlers came out firing, defeating Osakis 5-2 in the opening match, before ending the day with a 5-2 over Pequot Lakes.

Prepping for the opener

The Prowlers began practicing as a team on Monday, Aug. 14 with two practices per day, one from 6:15-7:45 a.m. and the other from 6-8 p.m. each day, to prepare for the season opener.

“I was excited to watch the girls step into match play based on how well they practiced, but we also kept in mind that it is only the first match and early in the season, so we weren’t going to worry about the outcomes of the matches but just use them to know what we need to work on,” Spears said. “We knew a little bit of our strengths lineup wise having Avery [Skaar] and Braylee [Wienen] back on the singles side,” Spears said. “Then also putting Piper [Greene] and Anna [Lunsetter] back in the doubles. The rest of the line-up has lots of girls competing for the spots, so it will take a few matches for us to solidify those spots, but we went with solid lineups for both teams.”

Against Osakis, the Prowlers utilized a singles lineup of Skaar, Wienen, McKenzie Lee and Jerlyn Lunsetter, and a doubles lineup of Greene/Kaitlyn Kruse, Brianne Ellison/Anna Lunsetter, and Samantha Rodahl/Olivia Schuster in doubles spots one through three.

The Prowlers got singles wins from Skaar, Wienen and Jerlyn Lunsetter, and doubles wins from Anna Lunsetter/Ellison, and Rodahl/Schuster.

“I was impressed with everyone’s play,” Spears said. “There were some first match jitters, but by the end of everyone’s first sets, those jitters had been pushed away. Focus had to be adjusted to playing the wind and it was really strong for half of the courts, while the other half were blocked by a building. The girls brought lots of energy even having had a long and tiring week. Doubles, having only had a little experience playing with possible partners, they adjusted well to each other and I liked the pairings we had set up. We do still have lots to explore and keep trying, but it was a good start on the day.”

Spears used a different lineup against the Patriots. Skaar, Wienen, and Jerlyn Lunsetter stayed at 1, 2, and 4 singles. Rodahl and Lee switched places for the second dual, with Rodahl moving to 3 singles, while Lee moved to 3 doubles. Greene, Anna Lunsetter, Kruse and Ellison remained on the doubles side but played with different parters in the second match.

“We switched Anna and Kaitlyn around, so it was Anna/Piper and Kaitlyn/Brianne. Then 3 doubles was McKenzie and Lydia [Walseth].”

Skaar, Wienen, and Jerlyn Lunsetter won singles matches, with Ellison/Kruse and Lee/Walseth adding doubles wins. Rodahl dropped a three-set match at number 3 singles and Greene/Anna Lunsetter fell at number one doubles.

“One doubles battled but unfortunately took a loss in both matches,” Spears said. “We have the skill to match up in that tough spot but just need to solidify our doubles play with more talking and moving together on the court. Two doubles had wins for both matches along with three doubles as well.

“I was more than proud that the girls walked away with 5-2 wins against both quality teams that we played. I knew we had high potential, but I was very impressed with how strong the girls played. It was a great way to round out a incredible week of practice and really sets the right tone for the season ahead.”

Thief River Falls 5, Osakis 2

Singles: No. 1 – Avery Skaar, Thief River Falls def. Leah Maddock, Osakis, 6-3, 1-6, 10-8; No. 2 – Braylee Wienen, Thief River Falls def. Bria Hoffarth, Osakis, 6-3, 6-0; No. 3 – Bella Weisser, Osakis def. McKenzie Lee, Thief River Falls, 6-1, 7-6; No. 4 – Jerlyn Lunsetter, Thief River Falls def. Ava Drevlow, Osakis, 4-6, 6-3, 10-1.

Doubles: No. 1 – Madeline Anderson/Lauren Anderson, Osakis def. Piper Greene/Kaitlyn Kruse, Thief River Falls, 6-3, 6-4; No. 2 – Anna Lunsetter/Brianne Ellison, Thief River Falls def. Brenna Moen/Jaclyn Dietrich, Osakis, 7-5, 6-2; No. 3 – Samantha Rodahl/Olivia Schuster, Thief River Falls def. Maddi Bouldin/Reece Eurle, Osakis, 6-4, 6-1.

Thief River Falls 5,

Pequot Lakes 2

Singles: No. 1 – Avery Skaar, Thief River Falls def. Ellie Ouradnik, Pequot Lakes, 6-2, 4-6, 10-5; No. 2 – Braylee Wienen, Thief River Falls def. Allyson Yahn, Pequot Lakes, 5-7, 6-2, 12-10; No. 3 – Carlie Eggert, Pequot Lakes def. Samantha Rodahl, Thief River Falls, 6-2, 1-6, 10-7; No. 4 – Jerlyn Lunsetter, Thief River Falls def. Jenna Stoerzinger, Pequot Lakes, 6-4, 7-5.

Doubles: No. 1 – Eva Mumm/Aubrey Wiczek, Pequot Lakes def. Piper Greene/Anna Lunsetter, Thief River Falls, 6-3, 6-0; No. 2 – Brianne Ellison/Kaitlyn Kruse, Thief River Falls def. Kessa Eggert/Kayla Joyce, Pequot Lakes, 5-7, 4-6; No. 3 – McKenzie Lee/Lydia Walseth, Thief River Falls def. Nikki Crocker/Ellie Wolthuizen, Pequot Lakes, 4-6, 7-5, 10-4.

recipe of the day