Prep girls tennis: CEC sails past Grand Rapids in Section 7AA tournament

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton senior Marina Dostal got off to a slow start in her first match of the Section 7AA team tournament Tuesday, Oct. 5, but rallied to win and help the Lumberjacks to a 6-1 team win over Grand Rapids.

Coach Derek Johnson said Dostal struggled early at the No. 1 singles spot with opponent Emily Hill’s slice shot early, but was able to adjust to win the match 6-4, 6-2.

“A slice shot stays lower and has back spin,” Johnson said. “So we had her bend her knees a little bit to do some slicing back. Then (Hill) tried to slice and charge the net, but Marina started hitting better lobs the girl couldn’t get to with passing shots.”

No. 2 singles player Winnie Benjamin-Hall lost her previous match against the Thunderhawks’ Franzi Teichmann and Tuesday’s rematch started exactly the same as it did last time, with Benjamin-Hall falling behind 3-0 in the first set.

This time, however, Benjamin-Hall responded by winning nine straight games and taking the match 6-3, 6-3.

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Johnson said Lydia Stone was “really impressive” in her match at the No. 3 spot playing Carolina Achan. While Johnson said, he was a little concerned about this match going into it, Stone won 6-0, 6-1.

“I thought that one was going to be a closer one because I knew her opponent was a hard hitter, but she was just over-hitting today,” Johnson said.

The only blemish on the Lumberjacks scoresheet was Jayden Karppinen and Brynn Martin’s loss in super tiebreaker to Courtney Brandt and Taryn Hamling at the No. 1 doubles spot. Karppinen and Martin lost the first set 6-3, but rallied to win the second before falling in the tiebreaker.

“They played well, they just came up short at the end,” Johnson said.

CEC will now play at top-seeded Elk River at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7.

Singles — Marina Dostal, CEC, def. Emily Hill 6-4, 6-2; Winnie Benjamin-Hall, CEC, def. Franzi Teichmann 6-3, 6-3; Lydia Stone, CEC, def. Caroline Ahcan 6-0, 6-1; Addie Loeb, CEC, def. Mercury Bischoff 6-3, 7-5.

Doubles — Courtney Brandt/Taryn Hamling, GR, def. Jayden Karppinen/Brynn Martin 6-3, 3-6 (10-2); Carlee Maslowski/Dana Jones, CEC, def. Hannah LaFrenier/Molly Pierce 6-0, 6-4; Bella Herriman/Alexis Goranson, CEC def. Addison Lindner/Lindsey Tulla 6-2, 6-1.