ST PETER — If there were any doubts as to who the power was in Section 3A girls tennis this season, they were dispelled on Tuesday at the Swanson Tennis Center.
A heavily-favored St. James tennis team rolled through the field at the Gustavus bubble, shutting out Luverne 7-0 in the semifinals and trouncing Montevideo 6-1 in the finals. The seventh-ranked Saints began the tournament with a 7-0 quarterfinal win over River Valley last week.
“I wasn’t so sure how strong we were going to be this year,” St. James’ No. 2 singles player Abby Frederickson said before the finals. “We lost 10 seniors off last year’s team and seven of them were varsity players.
“But early in the season I could tell we were going to be fine. We worked hard and looked good in practice, and we won our first few matches, so I knew we had a good chance to get back (to state).”
With Tuesday’s Section 3A win, St. James will now be making its fifth straight state tournament appearance and its sixth in the last seven years.
Frederickson has not lost a set during the postseason, downing Luverne’s Krista Van Dyk 6-2, 6-2 and Montevideo’s Avery Carlbom 6-4, 6-3.
“I played second doubles last year,” Frederickson said. “It’s a big jump to second singles. Playing singles is totally different from doubles. I’ve had to improve all aspects of my game.”
The Saints’ Karlee Sieve, who combined with McKenzie Gronewold to go 2-0 at second doubles Tuesday, said this will be her first trip to state.
“I wasn’t on varsity last year so going to state (will be) exciting,” said the senior. “We tried to get together and play a lot over the summer.
“We had what we called intrasquad scrimmages and a lot of us went to a tennis camp at Luther College at Decorah, Iowa, too. I think it helped make all of us better players.”
Of St. James’ six victories against Mahtomedi, only one went three sets. The No. 1 doubles team of Darci Johnson and Julie Runge won 6-2, 0-6, 6-0 over Kayla Berget and Alexa Frazier.
The Saints are now 21-2 with their only two losses coming against fourth-ranked Rochester Lourdes and fifth-ranked Waseca.
Section 3A Semifinals
Montevideo 4, Redwood Valley 3
St. James 7, Luverne 0
SINGLES: 1—Paige Olson (SJ) def. Hannah Bartman 6-3, 6-2; 2—Abby Frederickson (SJ) def. Krista Van Dyk 6-2, 6-2; 3—Aryn Eckstrom (SJ) def. Kaitlyn Wohnoutka 6-4, 6-0; 4—Rachel Lahti (SJ) def. Emily Robinson 6-1, 6-2.
DOUBLES: 1—Darci Johnson & Julia Runge (SJ) def. Hilary Deragisch & Autumn Wenzel 6-1, 6-3; 2—Karlee Sieve & McKenzie Gronewold (SJ) def. Cathryn Hartz & Erin Doherty 6-4, 6-3; 3—Kat Barrett & Caitlin Olson (SJ) def. Paige Pierce & Erica Marshall 6-0, 6-3.
Section 3A Championship
St. James 6, Montevideo 1
SINGLES: 1—Paige Olson (SJ) def. Shelby Monahan 6-4, 6-0; 2—Abby Frederickson (SJ) def. Avery Carlbom 6-4, 6-3; 3—Aryn Eckstrom (SJ) def. Jennessa Runia 6-0, 6-0; 4—Catherine Haugen (M) def. Rachel Lahti 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-0.
DOUBLES: 1—Darci Johnson & Julia Runge (SJ) def. Kayla Berget & Alexa Frazier 6-2, 6-0, 0-6; 2—Karlee Sieve & McKenzie Gronewold (SJ) def. Abigail Haugen & Victoria Jarman 6-2, 6-2; 3—Kat Barrett & Caitlin Olson (SJ) def. Matti Peters & Sierra Frazier 6-1, 6-2.
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