Faribault Girls Tennis Edged by New Prague

The Faribault Falcons girls tennis team traveled to New Prague Monday and lost 4-3 in a very exciting match.  Head Coach Jeff Anderson tells KDHL/POWER 96 ultimately the match was decided by two points in the #1 Doubles tie-breaker.

Coach Anderson was pleased with the team play following two wins Saturday at Tri-City United over the Titans and Bloomington Kennedy.  He said they were eager to play tennis on another gorgeous day without a lot of wind, "The team as a whole played exceptionally well today and four of the seven matches were decided by a tie-breaker."

Here are some of the highlights the coach reported.

• #2 singles Rachel Bostwick remains undefeated (2-0) winning in one of the four tie-breakers.  "Rachel played a strong first set controlling many of the points and frustrating her opponent with her flat style of play.  It appeared in the second set that Rachel's opponent had finally figured out her style and turned the tables controlling the second set which forced a tie-breaker to decide the match.  In a very close well-played tie-breaker by both players, Rachel was able to pull ahead and won 10-8."  Rachel won first set 6-3, her New Prague opponent captured the second set 6-1.
• #3 singles Hailey Reuvers moved from doubles to singles and won the first set 7-5. "Ultimately losing her match by 3 points in a tie-breaker.  Hailey had a very consistent serve and hustled well on the court today keeping herself in most of the points played.  She also had great groundstrokes.  In only her second year on the team Hailey has a good court sense and knows how to move and where to move on the court along with knowing where she should be placing/hitting the ball."  New  Prague won the second set 6-4 and the tie-breaker 10-7.
• #2 doubles Abby Goodwin and Kylie Petricka teamed up again and remain undefeated. They, "played well controlling much of the match with great court movement and well placed shots along with aggressive net play."  Abby and Kylie won 6-2, 6-2.
• #3 doubles Kate Jasinski and Rylie Starkson got together for the first time this season.  The coach says they played together last year and had a slow start in New Prague before winning the second set 6-3 and the tie-breaker 10-8.  New Prague captured the first set 6-2.
• #1 doubles Erica Johnsrud and Chau Truong had a slow start in the first set also before finding their rhythm. "While they were seeing the ball and court well, they were just a bit off on their execution."  After losing the first set 6-2, "they were executing shots and plays much better" in the second set and won 6-4.  The pair fell behind 5-1 before reeling off four points to tie 5-5 in the tie-breaker.  Then it was 8-8 before New Prague won 12-10.

Tuesday, August 20 the Falcons travel to Owatonna to play Big 9 Conference rivals Owatonna and Northfield in a triangular match.

At 9:00 a.m. Faribault plays Owatonna.  11:00 a.m. Faribault takes on Northfield.  Owatonna and Northfield play at 1:00 p.m.