Tennis: Tigers 2nd at Mound Doubles

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Farmington crowned two flight championship teams an placed second out of three squads in the season-opening Mound Doubles Tournament last Monday.

The No. 2 doubles team of seniors Kelly Willenbring and Danielle McCarthy got its season off to a strong start with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mound-Westonka and a 7-6, 6-0 triumph over Bloomington Kennedy. The duo rallied after falling behind on four consecutive set points in the first set.

The No. 8 doubles team also went 2-0 as junior Sam Leighton and freshman Allison Midboe teamed up for 6-1, 7-6 and 6-0, 6-2 victories.

The Tigers picked up victories over Bloomington Kennedy but lost to meet champion Mound-Westonka at Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 doubles. M-W scored 10 team points, while Farmington scored seven and Kennedy scored one.

“Matches were almost all close even with Kennedy,” Farmington coach Jack Olwell said. “We lost three third-set tiebreakers to Mound or we would have been the victors.... But we all played well.”

The Tigers weren’t as sharp in Saturday’s home debut at the Tiger Invite at Boeckman Middle School. The team failed to take a single match in action against Cannon Falls and Belle Plaine.

“We had a tough day at the office,” Olwell said. “Although we played many close matches we failed to win a match. Ouch. But we were competitive in most and held the lead in many, including some third set tiebreaker losses. We got to the altar, but we couldn’t say ‘I do.’”

Owell said he was especially happy with the play of Maggie Rudorfer, who dropped three tiebreakers in 3-5, 4-5(5) and 5-1, 4-5(5), 4-7 losses at No. 3 singles.

In doubles, Kristy Maguire and Danielle Froehling were competitive in a pair of 3-5, 3-5 setbacks.

The Tigers hosted Kennedy on Tuesday and South St. Paul on Wednesday and will play again next Wednesday against Rosemount.

Tags: sports, tennis