By Becky Walz,
The Decorah girls’ tennis team had a busy week of postseason action with the singles and doubles tournament Wednesday, followed by the team regional action Saturday.
The Decorah girls’ tennis team had a busy week of postseason action with the singles and doubles tournament Wednesday, followed by the team regional action Saturday.
Team competition
Decorah hosted the first and second round of regional team tennis on the Luther College courts Saturday, winning 6-0 over Oelwein and 5-0 over Dike-New Hartford.
In their first round, the Vikes defeated a competitive Oelwein Husky team, 6-0. Mara Holland found her game right from the start and came away with a 6-0, 6-0 straight set win. Following her lead, Holland’s teammates took control of their matches to seal the victory for the Decorah.
In their second round, the Decorah girls found themselves facing a tough Dike-New Hartford team. Dike-New Hartford had eliminated Western Dubuque, 5-0, in their first round of the day. It did not take long for the Lady Vikes to realize that they were going to have to amp up their games if they wished to defeat the Wolverines.
Long rallies were plentiful as the evenly matched opponents slugged it out on the courts. In the early stages of the meet, neither team was ahead for long as the scorecards flipped back and forth indicating the closeness of the meet. Just like the little engine that could, Decorah slowly and steadily began to pull away in a couple of matches that seemed to get the rest of the team going.
Number one player, Annalise Skrade found herself ahead 3-0 early in her first set only to have her opponent come back to tie 3-3. Skrade then changed her game a bit and won nine of the next 10 games to come away with a two-set victory over Madelyn Norton. That win served as a spark that started the Vike’s fire.
Nadia Johnson, playing in the number three spot in the lineup played well in her first set to win with a solid 6-1 set score. D-NH’s Misty Harreld, however, was not ready to concede and came out firing, putting Johnson behind a 0-3 second set score. That forced Johnson to take a couple of breaths, sharpen her shot placements and increase the pace on the ball one click. The senior won the final six games to secure the two-set victory.
Evon Leitz played the longest points of the day in her singles action. She and Mary Clair McCarter were very evenly matched and entertained the fans with 20-plus hits in order to win a point on a regular basis. Meanwhile, right next to Leitz, Allison Pavlovec was showcasing the form that carried her to a regional runner-up finish that earned her a trip to the state tournament later in the spring.
In the No. 3 spot, Kristi Kjome-Johnson lost a hard fought, first set to her Anna Frahm. The two of them were engaged in good point after good point but the Decorah senior was not winning an equal share of them. Kjome-Johnson could have easily thrown in the towel after a frustrating first set but that concept is not part of her makeup. Shifting her game from drive to super-drive, Kjome-Johnson began to blow shots by her opponent, one after another, until she won the second set convincingly. Playing a super tie-breaker for the third set, she did not let up and came away with a split set victory that insured that the Vikes would be playing again next week.
Decorah plays in the regional final Saturday, May 21, versus Aplington-Parkersburg at the Luther College courts at 9 a.m.
Team regional scores
Versus Oelwein
No. 1. Annalise Skrade (Dec) won 6-1, 6-0 over Kaylie Stewart (Oelwein); No. 2. Mara Holland (Dec) won 6-0, 6-0 over Laney Smith (Oelwein); No. 3. Kristi Kjome-Johnson (Dec) won 6-2, 6-0 over Dani Gerkenberger (Oelwein); No. 4. Nadia Johnson (Dec) won 6-0, 6-1 over Natalie Albrecht (Oelwein); No. 5. Evon Leitz (Dec) won 6-2, 6-0 over Molly Trumble (Oelwein); No. 6. Allison Pavlovec (Dec) won 6-0, 6-2 over Kendra Rechkener (Oelwein)
Versus Dike-New Hartford
No. 1. Annalise skrade (Dec) won 6-3, 6-1 over Madelyn Norton: (D-NH); No. 2 Mara Holland did not finish versus Misty Harreld (D-NH); No. 3. Kristi Kjome-Johnson (Dec) won 2-6, 6-2, 10-3 over Anna Frahm (D-NH); No. 4. Nadia Johnson (Dec) won 6-1, 6-3 over Aida Tott (D-NH); No. 5. Evon Leitz (Dec) won 6-2, 6-2 over Mary Clair McCarter (D-NH); No. 6. Allison Pavlovec (Dec) won 6-3, 6-2 over Izzy Norton (D-NH)
Singles and doubles tourney
Getting on the court Wednesday at Waverly-Shell Rock, the Vikings saw a doubles team and a singles qualify for the state tournament.
Annalise Skrade and Mara Holland went 4-0 on the day to become the regional champions and punch their tickets to the double state tournament. Senior Allison Pavlovec finished as runner-up and qualified for the state individual tennis meet.
Evon Leitz and Haley Gossman were defeated in the quarterfinal match by the eventual runner-up team from Osage. Kristi Kjome-Johnson was defeated in the semifinals but came back to finish in third place.
“Everyone met and surpassed expectations in the tournament. The third-place finish in singles means that if the champion or runner-up cannot play in the state meet Kristi (Kjome-Johnson) will take their place in the state tournament,” said Coach Berland. “The weather played a huge role in the tournament with temps over 90 degrees with high humidity.”
Doubles: Skrade/Holland (Dec) won 6-1, 6-0 over Brant/Rodriquez (Clear Lake); won 6-0, 6-0 over Gibbs/Baker (St. Edmund); won 6-3, 6-2 over Willis/Gaede (W-SR); won 6-2, 6-3 over Olson/Olson (Osage)
Leitz/Gossman (Dec) won 6-0, 6-3 over DeBoest/Nielson (Osage); won 6-1, 6-1 over Bradley/Draeger (Webster City); lost 6-7, 4-6 to Olson/Olson (Osage)
Singles: Allison Pavlovec (Dec) won 6-0, 6-4 over Flaherty (St. Edmund); won 6-7, 7-5, 11-9 over L. Wood (Iowa Falls); won 6-3, 6-1 over Sullivan (Webster City); won by injury default over E. Wood (Iowa Falls)
Kristi Kjome Johnson (Dec) won 7-5, 6-2 over Prichard (Charles City); won 4-6, 6-4, 10-7 over Groeneeweg (Clear Lake); lost 3-6, 1-6 to E. Wood (Iowa Falls); won 6-3, 6-3 over Sullivan (Webster City)
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