Lady Lynx tennis slays SFW, 6-3

The Lady Lynx faced two separate Sioux Falls programs last week in Metro Conference dual action, resulting in a win and a loss. Brandon Valley handled Sioux Falls Washington 6-3 on Sept. 14, and fell short in the 8-1 loss to Sioux Falls Lincoln.

The Lynx matched Washington in singles, posting a trio of wins and a trio of losses, which head coach Adam Rothenberger said, “put pressure on our doubles teams going into their matches.”

The Lynx duos, however, responded in a big way by capturing wins in all three flights.

Flight 1 doubles (Tanna Lehfeldt and Sydney Pelletier) took advantage of Washington’s fill-in, exploiting the weakness of their more inexperienced player, taking the match in 6-3, 6-1 sets. 

Although BV’s flight 2 doubles got off to a slow start “looking like they lacked the confidence to overcome the 3-6 first set loss,” Rothenberger said, and in the second set, “They began playing more aggressive and ‘smarter’ tennis and quickly rolled the Warriors.” The duo of Kate Lundberg and Annabelle Schultz collected   6-1 and 11-9 wins to pick up the win. “They proved they were the ‘more determined’ team to win the match by fulfilling the comeback with a third-set match tiebreak 11-9 win,” Rothenberger said.

Tashlynne Badger and Marie Pelletier also got the best of their competition behind a pair of 6-4 set wins in flight 3 doubles.

BV didn’t fare as well against top-ranked Lincoln, losing 8-1. The team’s lone win of the day came in flight 3 doubles. 

“The girls obviously had a tough match facing the No. 1 team in the state and girls that most of them will likely win a state title at their respective flights.,” Rothenberger said. ‘I was pleased with our level of play, inspite of the loss. We didn’t really ‘give’ them any match.”

Rothenberger said Lehfeldt and Sydney Pelletier had opportunities for an upset in No. 1 doubles against Meredith Benson and Ava Leonard.

“They were pretty even with Lincoln’s ones in the first set (6-4) and, in the second set (6-3), they had chances to go up big but unfortunately lost two deuce points that kept Lincoln in it. If you give great teams/players opportunities to stay in a match they will make you pay for it (and) we learned that lesson the hard way,” the coach said.

The season’s winding down for the Lady Lynx. The team will compete in the Metro Conference Championships on Sept. 23 at McKennan Park in Sioux Falls and on Sept. 26, travel to Mitchell for their final ESD Conference dual. The ESD Conference Championships are slated for Sept. 28 at Aberdeen.

 

BV 6, SFW 3

Singles: Tanna Lehfelt (BV) def. Sadie Goodhope 6-0, 6-2; Katelyn Nelson (SFW) def. Sydney Pelletier 6-2, 6-2; Kate Lundberg (BV) def. Alyssa Sailer 6-0, 6-1; Taylor Olson (SFW) def. Annabelle Schultz 6-3, 6-2; Kennie Brandt (SFW) def. Tashlynne Badger 6-4, 7-5; Marie Pelletier (BV) def. Rylie Nesheim 6-3, 6-1. Doubles: Lehfeldt/S. Pelletier (BV) def. Goodhope/Kirsch 6-3, 6-1; Lundberg/Schultz (BV) def. Nesheim/Olson 3-6, 6-1, 11-9; Badger/M. Pelletier (BV) def. Brandt/Nesheim 6-4, 6-4.

 

BV 1, SFL 8

Singles: Meredith Benson (SFL) def. T. Lehfeldt 6-1, 6-2; Ava Leonard (SFL) def. S. Pelletier 6-1, 6-0; Johana Brower (SFL) def. K. Lundberg 6-3, 6-0; Emily Whitney (SFL) def. A. Schultz 6-0, 6-1; Elle Dobbs (SFL) def. T. Badger 6-2, 6-1; Brita Quello (SFL) def. M. Pelletier 6-3, 6-2. Doubles: Benson/Leonard (SFL) def. Lehfeldt/S. Pelletier 6-4, 6-3; Brower/Whitney (SFL) def. Lundberg/Schultz 6-0, 6-1; Badger/M. Pelletier (BV) def. Dobbs/Quello 1-6, 0-2 retired.