Hartman reaches state tournament following two three-set matches

Five hours of court time, out of breath perhaps, yet still satisfied at the end of it all. Lorilei Hartman put in a full day's work plus overtime at the Rochester Athletic Club on the final day of the Section 1A individual tournament Monday.

She ended as the section runner-up in singles play. For a second straight year, Red Wing will have representation in the girls tennis state tournament.

Hartman won the singles tournament last year as a sophomore. Even though she was second place this year, she's found that her overall game has continued to improve.

"In certain aspects. Certainly, I've added a lot of strategy over the past year," she said.

Though she did reflect on what could help her next week at the state tournament.

"I think my biggest hurdle is playing scared. I play my best when I trust my strokes and swing out," Hartman said. "I was able to do that for a big portion of the game (today), but the challenge, the fun challenge, will be doing that the entire time at state."

Hartman faced a familiar foe in the section final, Liv Tennessen of Cannon Falls. The two had previously squared off in a No. 1 singles match three times this season with Tennessen winning the first two and Hartman winning the third and most recent match between the two.

It was hardly a surprise that the two needed a third set to determine a winner. All of the previous matches had been closely played. Tennessen won the first two 7-5, 7-6(5) and 7-6(4), 6-2. Then Hartman got the upper hand, winning 6-3, 1-6, 1-0(7).

The hard-hitting Tennessen survived some well-placed shots in the first set and early on the second set from Hartman. Then, it was a battle willpower. Each player exchanged put-away shots, playing for a minute at a time per point and made the other work through their weak sides. Tennessen won the fourth meeting 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, to win the section title.

Hartman made it to the section final against Tennessen after a 2-hour, 26-minute semifinal match against Lake City's Gemma Bauer. That match went three sets with Hartman having to come back to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The match against Tennessen lasted just over two and a half hours. Add in the 30 or so minutes warming up with Johannes Hartman on a spare court; that would put her over 5 hours on a court.

"The first match took a lot of endurance, and the second match did as well," Hartman said. "I think that's where I fell a little bit in the third set was the endurance and the willingness to give 110 percent every single point. I did it for the majority, which is why I was so close."

Lake City's Therese Bauer and Rylee Thieren claim their third consecutive section title. The junior duo wrapped their day up the fastest of anybody there. While other matches were still going and before the singles championship and third-place matches could begin, they had already won the doubles title.

Bauer and Thieren cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win in their semifinal match over Cotter’s Amanda and Karen Hasegawa. The two then dispatched Waseca’s Ava Miller and Hannah Rugger 6-2, 6-3.

This season has been quite dominant for Bauer and Thieren while playing singles. Bauer played in three matches that went to a third set and has an overall record of 19-1, all at No. 1 singles. Thieren has been just as good, if not better. She has an astounding 21-0 record playing exclusively at No. 3 singles. She had eight 6-0, 6-0 sweeps and had only two matches that went past the second set.

When they team up in doubles, their court control was no match for any doubles team in the section.

The Class A state tournament is held over four days, but the first two days are for team competition. The state individual portion begins Thursday, Oct. 29 and concludes Friday, Oct. 30. Both team and individual state brackets will be released Thursday.