Jun. 4—The Mandan girls tennis team had its sight set last spring on becoming the first team in school history to win a North Dakota high school tennis title.
But it never had the chance.
The coronavirus pandemic wiped out the 2020 spring sports season, so the Braves had to wait.
“I think we did have a shot last year,” Mandan coach Paul Christen said. “We had pretty much the same team. I thought we matched up well with Sheyenne. They’ve been hungry for the last two years.”
On Thursday, it showed.
Mandan (19-0) completed a perfect season by rolling to the state team title in Choice Health and Fitness. The Braves swept Valley City 5-0 in the quarterfinals, beat Bismarck Legacy 5-0 in the semifinals and topped Minot 4-1 in the championship.
“We knew we had the team to win it,” Christen said. “It was about putting in one day at a time to improve. They showed up. Especially in every tournament, we played our best tennis.
“It’s exciting. To have pretty much all seniors on this team. . . after we didn’t get a shot at it last year. . . it’s real special for these girls.”
Of the seven players who competed in the final dual against Minot, six were seniors.
Mandan’s top player, West Region singles champion and senior Elizabeth Felderman, clinched the victory at No. 1 singles.
Felderman won the first set 6-4. She fell behind 4-2 in the second set, but reeled off the last four games against Minot junior Eden Olson.
“Eden switched up her game plan when Elizabeth was coming to the net,” Christen said. “Instead of lobbing, she was driving the ball at her feet. Elizabeth didn’t make those shots. When Elizabeth was making those shots, she was winning games fairly easily, but Eden did a good job adjusting.”
After the final point, Mandan’s players stormed the court to celebrate.
The Braves, as they did in the West Region final, swept all three singles matches without losing a set.
Senior Lizzie Allan beat Morgan Wheeler 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2 singles and senior Kate Kesler beat Sienna Ronning 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.
The No. 1 doubles match between Mandan’s Sophia Felderman-Breanna Helbling and Minot’s Sofia Egge-Sydney Fettig split sets when Mandan’s No. 1 singles victory went final to clinch the title. So, they played a super tiebreaker instead of a full third set. Felderman, a freshman, and Helbling, a senior, won 10-3.
Minot’s lone victory came from Sidney Ressler and Martine Hammer at No. 2 doubles, 6-1, 6-3, over Mandan seniors Kylie Wieland and Payton Loerch. Minot, which narrowly beat East Region champ Fargo Davies 3-2 in the semifinals, finished its season 20-3.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” said Christen, who coached against his old Williston High teammate Scott DeLorme in the final. “We had a couple of matchups that I knew were in our favor, but Minot’s a good team. They came out after an emotional win over Davies, and we knew they were going to be ready for us.”
N.D. state meet
Team tournament
At Choice Health and Fitness, Thursday
Quarterfinals
Mandan 5, Valley City 0
Singles
1. Elizabeth Felderman over Abby Martineck 6-0, 6-1; 2. Lizzie Allan over Abby Redfearn 6-0, 6-1; 3. Kate Kesler over Georgia Zaun 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. Sophia Felderman-Breanna Helbling over Olivia Ingstad-Breck Sufficool 6-2, 6-1; 2. Kylie Wieland-Payton Loerch over Maisie Leick-Kailee Nielson 6-7 (6), 6-3, 10-8
Bismarck Legacy 3, WF Sheyenne 2
Singles
1. Mimi Gu, WFS, over Kristin Ness 6-2, 6-1; 2. Aleah McPherson, BL, over Jayne Thompson 6-1, 2-6, 6-2; 3. Alyssa Sommerfeld, WFS, over Abby Meier 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
1. Camaryn Beasley-Chelsa Krom, BL, over Hailey Beeter-Kaitlyn Strandberg 6-1, 6-1; 2. Sierra Knoll-Anna Sorensen, BL, over Grace Hawkinson-Abby Timmerman 6-3, 6-4
Fargo Davies 5, Bismarck Century 0
Singles
1. Lily Andrews over Ashley Kindem 6-2, 6-1; 2. Paige McCormick over Riley Lembke 6-0, 6-0; 3. Tanis Lee over Navisha Soni 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
1. Marissa Burian-Olivia Marcil over Blaike Zander-Erika Lee 6-4, 6-3; 2. India Rohl-Grace Wanzek over Maya Kubsad-Bailey Upgren 6-2, 6-4
Minot 4, GF Central 1
Singles
1. Sofia Egge, M, over Gabby Spicer 6-3, 6-1; 2. Eden Olson, M, over Madi Stauss 6-0, 6-1; Morgan Wheeler, M, over Lauren Tran 6-2, 6-0
Doubles
1. Magdalene Spicer-Sydnee Lemieux, GFC, over Sydney Fettig-Sienna Ronning 6-3, 6-2; 2. Sidney Ressler-Martine Hammer, M, over Gianna Blue-Stella Blue 6-3, 6-1
Semifinals
Mandan 5, Bismarck Legacy 0
Singles
1. E. Felderman over Ness 6-1, 6-0; 2. Allan over McPherson 7-5, 6-2; 3. Kesler over Meier 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. S. Felderman-Helbling over Beasley-Knoll 6-4, 7-5; 2. Wieland-Loerch over Krom-Sorensen 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
Minot 3, Fargo Davies 2
Singles
1. Olson, M, over Andrews 6-3, 6-1; 2. McCormick, FD, over Ronning 6-1, 6-0; 3. Mattson, M, over Lee 6-4, 6-7 (11), 6-1
Doubles
1. Egge-Hammer, M, over Burian-Marcil 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-4; 2. Rohl-Wanzek, FD, over Wheeler-Fettig 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
Championship
Mandan 4, Minot 1
Singles
1. E. Felderman, Mandan, over Olson 6-4, 6-4; 2. Allan, Mandan, over Wheeler 6-3, 6-3; 3. Kesler, Mandan, over Ronning, 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1. S. Felderman-Helbling, Mandan, over Egge-Fettig 2-6, 6-4, 10-3; 2. Ressler-Hammer, Minot, over Wieland-Loerch 6-1, 6-3
Third place
Fargo Davies 5, Bismarck Legacy 0
Singles
1. Andrews over Beasley 6-4, 6-1; 2. McCormick over Ness 6-0, 6-3; 3. Lee over Krom 6-0, 6-3
Doubles
1. Marcil-Burian over Knoll-Sorensen 7-5, 6-2; 2. Rohl-Wanzek over McPherson-Autym Humann 6-3, 6-4
Consolation semifinals
Bismarck Century 4, GF Central 1
Singles
1. G. Spicer, GFC, over Blaike Zander 6-3, 6-4; 2. Kubsad, BC, over Stauss 6-1, 6-1; 3. Soni over Tran 7-5, 7-5
Doubles
1. Lembke-Lee, BC, over M. Spicer-Lemieux 6-0, 6-0; 2. Kindem-Upgren, BC, over Blue-Blue 6-0, 6-2
WF Sheyenne 3, Valley City 2
Singles
1. Gu, WFS, over Leick 6-2, 6-0; 2. Nielsen, VC, over Thompson 6-2, 6-1; 3. Sommerfeld, WFS, over Zaun 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
1. Sufficool-Ingstad, VC, over Beeter-Strandberg 7-6 (5), 6-1; 2. Hawkinson-Timmerman, WFS, over Martineck-Redfearn 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
Fifth place
WF Sheyenne 3, Bismarck Century 2
Singles
1. Gu, WFS, over Zander 5-0, ret.; 2. Kubsad, BC, over Thompson 1-6, 6-3, 6-4; 3. Sommerfeld, WFS, over Soni 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
1. Lembke-Lee, WFS, over Beeter-Strandberg 6-3, 6-4; 2. Hawkinson-Timmerman, WFS, over Upgren-Kindem 6-4, 7-6 (8)