Section 6AAA Individual Tournament results last week gave Edina tennis players more opportunities to win medals at state this week.
Edina had already qualified for the State Team Tournament and was the No. 2 seed behind defending champion Rochester Mayo. The state team matches were set to conclude with the finals Wednesday, Oct. 28 at Baseline Tennis Center.
Individual state play begins win singles matches at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at Baseline. The first doubles matches were set for 10 a.m.
Semifinal singles and doubles matches will be at 8 a.m. Friday, Oct. 30 with the finals to follow at 11:30.
Edina head coach Jaime Gaard Chapman was thrilled with Edina’s performance in section individual play. Senior Rashi Singh took the singles championship and the Hornet doubles team of sophomore captain Bella Loucks and ninth-grader Sophia Zeng also finished first.
Singh defeated senior Olivia McDonald of Minneapolis Washburn in a singles final that lasted three sets with scores of 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
“Olivia has a huge forehand,” coach Gaard Chapman said. “It was a great match to watch and Rashi handled it professionally.”
Singh’s other three section matches were over quickly as she defeated Washburn’s Elise Vanderborght 6-0, 6-0, Wayzata’s Julia Borchardt 6-0, 6-1 and Hopkins’ Leighton Strasburg 6-0, 6-1.
Also playing section singles for Edina was sophomore Mylana Hallaway, who advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to Washburn’s McDonald 6-0, 6-2.
Loucks and Zeng were the second seed for section doubles behind the Wayzata duo of Nikole Nazarevych and Melody Le. The seeds held and in the finals Edina prevailed 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.
“Bella and Sophia both have such strong ground strokes,” coach Gaard Chapman said. “They peaked at the right time.”
Loucks and Zeng had played mostly singles this season prior to the individual tournament. As it turned out, they developed chemistry quickly.
“We have a good doubles draw for state and a chance for the girls to go far,” coach Gaard Chapman said.
The other Edina doubles team that played in the section tourney, sophomores Sarah Levine and Alison Schmidt, took fourth place. “They did a great job,” coach Gaard Chapman said. “They had good matches against both of Wayzata’s teams.”
In state singles, Singh is seeded third behind the top two players from Rochester Mayo – Seniors Malea Diehn and Aoife Loftus. To win the state title, Singh would most likely have to defeat both of those top players.
“At the state tournament, it is all about belief in ourselves,” coach Gaard Chapman said.