Claire Loftus is a back-to-back state tennis champion – Post Bulletin

MINNEAPOLIS Never underestimate the heart of a champion.

That adage fit perfectly for Rochester Mayos Claire Loftus Friday afternoon in the Class 2A tennis tournament singles championship at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center.

The Mayo senior went from looking exhausted and defeated to turning into a champion, beating a match-winning Ava Nelson of Elk River 5-7, 7-5, 2-0. The final set was abbreviated when Nelson withdrew after experiencing quad cramps late in the afternoon. the second set.

Loftus was the tournament's top seed, Nelson No. 3.

It gave Loftus a perfect 32-0 on the season and gave the senior a second straight state championship.

“Obviously it was the state finals and I had to bring the energy to play my best tennis,” Loftus said. Regardless of the results, I had to do it because this would be the last game of my high school career. I had to take it all with me.

Loftus had every right to be exhausted. In Friday's semifinals, she was taken to three sets before defeating Eagan's Cassandra Li.

The title fight followed two hours later with Nelson, who prevailed in straight sets over Loftus' second-year sister Aoife in the other semi-final on Friday morning.

That meant Nelson was relatively fresh for the final. And Claire Loftus? Not so much.

It had been a long week of tennis, said Loftus, who had played seven matches in four days, including three on Tuesday and Wednesday, as he helped Mayo to its second straight team championship.

It had been quite physically and mentally exhausting, Loftus said. And then I had that long match with (Cassandra Lli). It made it a challenge to bounce back.

But she did.

After losing a 4-0 lead in the first set against Nelson and dropping it 7-5, Loftus called on all her reserves to defend her championship.

Gradually her energy returned and she looked inspired as her strategy of now being assertive in driving points and also steadily charging the net started to pay off big time.

When Loftus bounced back, it was Nelson who lost her strength and eventually went to the sidelines for good with those cramps.

Going into the match, I knew Nelson's style had to be aggressive from the baseline, Loftus said. She likes to attack the ball. From the second set on I told myself that I had to be the one to attack every point, otherwise I would just be defending the whole time. The change I made was just to be more aggressive.

Mayo coach Jeff Demaray has previously coached girls tennis champions. But in Loftus he has someone who stands alone.

Her skills, her willingness to compete and her leadership all make her uniquely great.

She was great today, said Demaray, who has had Loftus at No. 1 singles for the past six years. Even though this was her seventh match in the last four days, she found a way to persevere and keep fighting. She was very tired. She deflated. But she gave it everything she had. It was a credit to all the conditioning she did over the years (so she could fight back).

And then he made his proclamation.

Claire is the best girls player I have ever coached, Demaray said. And what's so special about her is that she's an even better person. She is a great role model, both on and off the field.

Mayo's doubles team of Keely Ryder and Malea Diehn finished third overall. The defending state champions from a year ago lost in the semifinals 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to eventual champions Rory Wahlstrand and Reese Wahlstrand of Mounds View. It was a difficult individual tournament for second-year Diehn, who was struggling with a virus. Ryder also suffered from coughs and colds.

Ryder/Diehn defeated Broolyn Keller and Reese Keller of Hastings 6-0, 6-4 in the third-place match.

“I'm so proud of the way those two came back,” Demaray said.

Ryder is one of three seniors on the Mayo team, with Claire Loftus and Charlotte Colby the others.

In the Class 1A tennis tournament at the Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center, the Lake City doubles pairing of Therese Bauer and Rylee Thieren finished third overall. Bauer/Thieren lost 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals to eventual champions Mach Sohre and Kelsey Jaeger of Maple River.

Bauer and Thieren then defeated Megan Thorfinnson and Alia Randt of Minnewaska 6-4, 7-6 (7-5 ​​tie-breaker) in the third-place match.

Bauer and Thieren, both just freshmen, are part of a promising tennis future in Lake City.

At the U of M's Baseline Tennis Center

SINGLES

Semi-finals: Claire Loftus (Mayo) def. Cassandra Li (Eagan) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Ava Nelson (Elk River) def. Aoife Loftus (Mayo) 6-1, 7-6 (7-1). Final: C. Loftus (Mayo) def. Nelson (Elk River) 5-7, 7-5, 2-0 (retired). Third place: Li (Eagan) def. A. Loftus (Mayo) 6-2, 6-3.

DOUBLE

Semi-finals: Rory Wahlstrand/Reese Wahlstrand (Mounds View) def. Malea Diehn/Keely Ryder (Mayo) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; Astrid Kerrman/Raya Hou (Edina) def. Brooklyn Keller/Reese Keller (Hastings) 6-3, 6-4. Final: Wahlstrand/Wahlstrand (Mounds View) final. Kerman/Hou 6-2, 6-4. Third place: Diehn/Ryder (Mayo) def. Keller/Keller 6-0, 6-4.

(Including Section 1 finishers)

At the Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center

SINGLES

Final: Chloe Alley (Minnehaha Academy) def. Fatemeh Vang (Blake) 6-0, 6-3.

DOUBLE

Semi-finals: Mach Sohre/Kelsey Jaeger (Maple River) def. Therese Bauer/Rylee Thieren (Lake City) 6-4, 6-1; Ally Mersman/Madison Ward (Maple River) def. Megan Thorfinnson/Alia Randt (Minnewaska) 7-5, 6-0. Final: Sohre/Jaeger (Maple River) def. Mersman/Ward (Maple River) 6-4, 6-4. Third place: Bauer/Thieren (Lake City) def. Thorfinnson/Randt (Minnewaska) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).