Prep tennis section tournament preview

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton senior exchange student Victoria Marinho of Rio de Janeiro enters the Section 7AA high school girls tennis singles tournament today as the No. 1 North seed at the Arrowhead Indoor Tennis Center.

Marinho (14-1) faces Andover sophomore Destiny Lee in the quarterfinals. Andover junior Faith Lee and Elk River junior Michaela Schulz are favored in Section 7AA. Marinho, 16, has lost only to Virginia senior Hailey Slatten this season.

“Victoria is a very special, very serious, competitive player. She’s the best player to come through our program in my 12 years here,” said CEC coach Steve Rickstrom.

The Section 7AA singles and doubles semifinals and finals are Tuesday.

In today’s Section 7AA team semifinals, Duluth East meets four-time defending champion Elk River, while Grand Rapids-Greenway plays Forest Lake.

In today’s Section 7A team semifinals in Virginia, four-time defending champion Virginia, ranked No. 5 in Class A, faces Pierz and Eveleth-Gilbert plays Foley.

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