Tiger tennis bounces through Mankato in 2AA tournament | News, sports, jobs

MANKATO — The Marshall tennis team's season as a group ended Tuesday afternoon. In the second round of the Section 2AA tournament, the Tigers faced a Mankato East/Loyola team they lost 7-0 to earlier in the season. Although Marshall made progress this time, it wasn't enough to get the win as they fell 6-1.

Mankato will play the winner of St. Peter and Mankato West in the sectional quarterfinals on Thursday, while Marshall will now prepare two singles and two doubles combinations for the individual sectional tournament, which begins Friday, Oct. 11, at Gustavus Adolphus College.

After falling shy in their first game against Mankato, the Tigers decided to play with their lineup this time. Marshall moved Justine Kirst from No. 2 singles to No. 1 singles and swapped doubles Makayli Burrell and Brooklyn Mauch to singles No. 2 and 4. In their place, singles No. 1 and No. 3, Taylor DePover and Aubrey Schaefer, teamed up in the first doubles match.

“I decided to put a different spin on the lineup because I thought it would give us a better chance [to win],” Marshall head coach Alex Cleppe said. “I looked at the strategy to combat them and I thought our kids did a good job in the lineup spots. We just couldn't execute the last points of the games to put it away.”

Seeing her first action in the varsity singles, Brooklyn Mauch earned the Tigers their only point of the match in the No. 4 singles match. Mauch took on Mankato's August Beltz and dropped the first set 4-6 before claimed a 6–4 win in the second. ready to force a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, she secured a 10–7 victory to earn the point.

Cleppe said Mauch's play at a junior varsity tournament earlier this season showed she had the versatility to switch to singles when necessary, adding that he thought she played very well on Tuesday.

“The tight first set didn't quite go her way, but in the second set she was really able to maneuver to get a win and then came out of the gremlin of the super tiebreaker,” said Cleppe. “She's been in a lot of those super tiebreakers this season and hasn't quite gotten through them, so I was really happy for her that she was able to navigate through them and get that win in the end.”

Mauch was the only Tiger to claim a single set that day, as all other singles and pairs lost to Marshall in straight sets.

In doubles No. 1, DePover and Schaefer played about as competitively as a duo can in their loss to Boynja Flitter and Addie Wassman. In a set that could have gone either way, Marshall dropped the first 7-6 (3) before falling 6-3 in the second.

Peyton Boeck and Emry Weller also lost 6-4, 6-4 to Hannah Westman and Ashlyn Rigdon in doubles No. 2, while Olivia DeGroot and Jazilyn Steinberg-Jones lost 6-0, 6-3 to Sydney Cusick and Emily Hacker .

DePover, Boeck and DeGroot accounted for three of Marshall's five seniors, joining Kirst and Burrell in the singles matches. With only two singles slots and two doubles pairs continuing their seasons at the individual sectional tournament, Tuesday marked the end of preliminary tennis for some of these players.

DePover is the Tigers' longest-tenured player, joining the team as a seventh-grader and playing a key role especially over the past five years, and Cleppe described her as a vocal leader of the group. Boeck and DeGroot have also been important to team chemistry, with Cleppe saying Boeck has shown tremendous growth from joining the team as a JV player last season to a key doubles player as a senior, while DeGroot's high energy has helped the team to laugh. and help the team appreciate the fun side of the sport.

Cleppe credited his seniors as a key part of the team's turnaround after the rocky start.

“That's one of the things I discussed with the team, is how they went from a rough start of oh-and-7 to winning eight of their last 11 games,” said Cleppe. “It shows the growth these kids have had and I'm proud of the work they put in in practice and games to get to a position where I thought we could have some success today. All our children work really hard.”

In singles No. 1, Kirst lost 6-0, 6-0 to Mankato's Sam Williams, while Burrell lost 6-0, 6-2 to Autumn Gaul in singles No. 2.

Cleppe said he felt Burrell played extremely well in the loss. He went after every ball on the court, but got shy on a series of deuces that skewed the set scores. He also complimented Kirst on taking the step to take on the challenge of No. 1 singles.

“[Kirst] has the most unorthodox style, and I like the style she plays with because when she hits on all cylinders, she has a nice touch at the net, a good hustler and willing to take on any challenge we give her,” said Cleppe.

In singles No. 3, Kathryn Coudron lost 6-3, 6-4 to Amelia Hacker.

Marshall finishes its season at 8-11 overall, 4-1 in the conference and 2-4 in the section. The six Tigers advancing to the individual sectional tournament will get some time off before competing again on Oct. 11 at 9 a.m.

According to Cleppe, the Tigers have a plan for who will continue their season. He added that they will formalize their plans more today, but that the focus Tuesday was on the team and that the individuals could wait until all was said and done with the team's season.