MINNEAPOLIS -- A dazzling career came to a close on Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Savannah Haugen, the longtime ace of the Bemidji High School girls tennis team, wrapped up her Lumberjack tenure with two matches in the Class AA state individual tournament.
“It was a great culmination of a really great season,” BHS head coach Kyle Fodness said. “(State) was really seen as a fun experience. Sections were too, but that may have been a little more pressure-packed with expectations. State was just going down and letting it rip, playing some awesome tennis.”
Haugen dropped both of her matches on Thursday. In the opening round, she lost 6-0, 6-1 to Annika Munson of Mahtomedi. After moving to the consolation bracket, Haugen fell 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 to Stewartville’s Chloe Regal.
“She had a really tough draw through the team tournament and individual tournament,” Fodness said. “She was very competitive. That last match she played was very evenly matched. That’s a match I thought she should have been very proud of.”
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Haugen finishes her senior season with a 31-7 record, which tops off a 109-25 career for Bemidji.
Yet Fodness said that Haugen’s legacy will extend far beyond her win-loss record. He pointed to her conduct -- positivity, sportsmanship and a fierce competitive drive -- that will define her Lumberjack career.
“That’s a great legacy to point to for younger players. You can use her as an example in so many of those ways,” Fodness said. “That’s the legacy you want to leave: that you can be a great tennis player, be a great person. That’s the way to do it. That’s the way Savannah did it.”
