LUMBERJACKS ROUNDUP: Solberg drops both matches at state tennis; Volleyball opens with Alexandria
MINNEAPOLIS – Jessica Solberg dropped her two matches at the state singles tennis tournament Thursday, losing 6-1, 6-2 to top-seeded Summer Brills of Mounds View in the opening round and falling 6-4, 6-2 to Haley Lickfold of Shakopee in the consolation bracket.
Despite those setbacks Solberg had a wonderful season, according to her coach Mark Fodness.
“As is often the case, much of the accomplishment is making the state tournament,” Fodness said. “Jess had to play very good tennis to get to the state meet. She actually played very well in both of her state matches but the performances were not quite enough to win at this level.”
Brills gained today’s state semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Danielle Donahue of Eagan in the Thursday’s quarterfinals. She will face Faith Lee of Andover today.
Lickfold will meet Kelly Yang of Wayzata in today’s consolation semifinals.
“Even though Jess ended her career with a loss at the state meet she had a great career at Bemidji High School,” Fodness said. “Playing at state is an experience Jess will remember for the rest of her life. Very few players make it to the state meet and for Jess to make it is a great accomplishment and a fitting reward for all of her hard work.”
Volleyball team plays Alexandria
Bemidji is seeded No. 2 in the North Sub-Section 8-3A volleyball tournament and will begin defense of its section crown 7 p.m. today at home against No. 3 Alexandria.
The Lumberjacks will take a 20-7 record into the match while Alexandria, which thumped sixth-seeded Detroit Lakes 25-12, 25-8, 25-18 Wednesday, owns a 14-13 record.
Today’s other section upper bracket match sees Monticello (No. 1 in the South) hosting Sauk Rapids (No. 5 South).
If Bemidji wins tonight it will face the Monticello-Sauk Rapids winner 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Today’s lower bracket matches see Moorhead (No. 4 North) at Fergus Falls (No. 1 North) and Rocori (No. 3 South) at St. Cloud Tech (No. 2 South).
The section title match will be Nov. 3 at a neutral site.
