Tennis: Bemidji improves to 10-0 with win over Grand Rapids
GRAND RAPIDS – The Bemidji High School tennis team keeps on winning.
The Lumberjacks improved to 10-0 in dual meets Wednesday, defeating Grand Rapids 4-3 on the road. The Lumberjacks defeated the Thunderbirds by the same score in the two teams’ first meeting.
“We challenged ourselves today,” BHS head coach Mark Fodness said. “We had to play pretty well to win 4-3. Grand Rapids is a good team, as we’ve seen.
“But we had some great performances, even in losses today.”
All three of the Lumberjacks’ top singles players – Jessica Solberg, Amy Frosaker and Claudia Bellew - won their matches fairly easily. In fact, only Frosaker lost a game.
But the Thunderbirds were able to come back and rack up some wins.
Emma Wagner beat Mackenzie Schultz in a close No. 4 match. Schultz won the first set 6-2, but Wagner took the next two to win 6-0, 6-3.
In doubles play, No. 1 team Olivia Dickenson and Annkia Johnson lost 2-6, 3-6 and No. 2 Alexis Konecne and Megan Serratore lost a three-set heartbreaker. They won the first 6-4, but Grand Rapids won the second set 7-6 with a 7-5 tiebreaker. The Thunderbirds took the final tiebreak set 10-7.
“We had three close matches and needed one point to win at the end,” Fodness said. “Our third doubles was able to get the job done with a good match.”
The team of Jenna Lee and Claire Baumgartner dropped their first set to Mariah Linder and Lexi Korbitz, 3-6.
But they rallied and won the next two sets by identical 6-2 scores.
“That first set was poor,” Fodness said. “But they pulled themselves out of their hole to win the next two. The second set was better and the third set was even better than that, even though it was the same score.”
The team returns to the court next week when they take on Crookston at the Grand Rapids Tennis Center.
Bemidji 4, Grand Rapids 3
Singles
1. J. Solberg (B) def. C. Ridgeway, 6-0, 6-0
2. A. Forsaker (B) def. M. Stampohar, 6-2, 6-0
3. C. Bellew (B) def. M. Dulong, 6-0, 6-0
4. Wagner (GR) def. M. Schultz, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3
Doubles
1. T. Kane/ K. Kane (GR) def. O. Dickenson/ A. Johnson 6-2, 6-3
2. M. Ritter/ M. Bellefy (GR) def. M. Serratore/ A. Konecne 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 10-7
3. J. Lee/ C. Baumgartner (B) def. M. Linder/ L. Korbitz 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
