Austin is sending two doubles teams to the individual Section 1AA finals.

Friday, October 13, 2000

Austin is sending two doubles teams to the individual Section 1AA finals. Thursday at the Rochester Racquet Club.

The team of junior Laurie Alonso and sophomore Amy Kelly won the Sub-Section title with a 6-2, 6-0 win over the Austin pair of Chelsea McColley and Lindy Swedberg. The top two teams advance to the Section finals at the Owatonna Indoor Courts on Tuesday.

During the season Alonso played No. 1 singles and Kelly played No. 2. With tough singles competition in the section they thought their best chance to make it to state would be playing doubles together. Last year Alonso did make it to state in singles.

"We have been playing a lot of doubles in practice getting ready for the individual competition," Kelly said.

"Both our doubles teams played great tennis today," Austin coach Levon Larson said, "and it was a treat having the opportunity to watch a match without going through the usual stresses of being a coach. Laurie and Amy were able to blast through the tournament by dropping just three games, but they did show instances of inexperience as a doubles team. We will definitely use the few practice sessions we have remaining to fine tune some of these doubles skills."

In the singles tournament it was Austin’s normal No. 3 and 4 players, Emily Bue and Katie Erickson, both winning a match before losing in the semifinals. Bue lost to the top-seeded Megan Curran of Lakeville 6-0, 6-2. In the first round she beat Katie Smith of Red Wing by the score of 6-0, 6-0.

"In my opinion, Emily was the second best singles player at the tournament today," Larson said, "but because she had played number three for us all year I was not able to argue a strong case for her and get her a higher seeding. She played great tennis, but the Lakeville girl was a very tough opponent and put an end to a fabulous season for Emily."

Erickson beat No. 3 seed Keri Asp of Red Wing 6-2, 6-3 in the first round and then lost to No. 2 seed Lauren Schletty of Eastview 7-5, 6-2.

"Katie played very consistent tennis today," Larson said, "and surprised herself with her first victory. She was under the impression that she was not going to do very well, but I tried to change her approach to today’s competition by letting her know that her style of play would frustrate many other players."

Section 1AA, Sub-Section A

Singles

Seeds

No. 1 Megan Curran (Lakeville)

No. 2 Lauren Schletty (Eastview)

No. 3 Keri Asp (Red Wing)

No. 4 Emily Bue (Austin)

1st Round

Curran def. Dani Votja (Eastview) 6-1, 6-0

Bue def. Katie Smith (Red Wing) 6-0, 6-0

Katie Erickson (Austin) def. Asp 6-2, 6-3

Schletty def. Jenna Brett (Lakeville) 6-1, 6-4

2nd Round

Curran def. Bue 6-0, 6-2

Schletty def. Erickson 7-5, 6-2

Finals

Curran def. Schletty 6-1, 6-1

Doubles

Seeds

No. 1 Laurie Alonso and Amy Kelly (Austin)

No. 2 Lindsey Cadwell and Caitlin Dugan (Eastview)

No. 3 Lara Dale and Erin Monson (Lakeville)

No. 4 Carolyn Witt and Kelsy Million (Red Wing)

1st Round:

Alonso/Kelly def. Emily Sunwall/Alissa Johnson (Eastview), 6-0, 6-0

Witt/Million def. Emily Fearnside/Alicia Tvedt (Lakeville), 7-6, 6-3;

Chelsea McColley/Lindy Swedberg (Austin) def. Dale & Monson, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2

Steph Goetz/Jenna Alleva (Red Wing) def. Cadwell & Dugan, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1

2nd Round:

Alonso/Kelly def. Witt & Million, 6-0, 6-1

McColley/Swedberg def. Goetz/Alleva, 6-0, 6-3

Finals:

Alonso/Kelly def. McColley/Swedberg, 6-2, 6-0