Lake City remains Section 1A's best, wins second section team title

Last year the feeling of winning was new. There were questions on how to handle the trophy and how to prepare for a state tournament as a team. Now, winning has become the norm for the Lake City girls tennis team.

The Tigers secured their second section title Monday at the Rochester Athletic Club with a 4-3 win over Cannon Falls. The Tigers are ranked No. 6 in Class A and now are 17-1 overall.

With an even more dominant regular season this fall, another section title, is Lake City a new powerhouse in Section 1?

“I’m not ready to put that label on us,” head coach Nick Dudley said. “The team has worked really hard. The singles players at 1, 2 and 3 have been great for us. A lot of people stepped into this spot. Anybody that's listening or has been a part of Lake City tennis, I don't think powerhouse and Lake City tennis is something that has been thought of over the years. But in this moment, I am happy with how the team is playing.”

If it’s too early to appoint the Tigers as a powerhouse, at the very least, they can say they’ve been set up to become one. Nine seniors from last year’s team, a part of the first Tiger girls tennis team to win a section title, graduated. Five of them played vital roles in the lineup, helping lead the team to picture its future potential.

“We knew it was going to be very different, especially because of how they had really set up our team for success,” said Thèrèse Bauer. “They set that up for all the coming years. We knew we had a chance to go very far and with the amazing record and amazing coaches we have, and all these girls that have worked so hard. We've all improved so much over the past season. We were confident coming in. We knew we had the skills to pull off what we did.

“People are realizing that we're more of a threat than they thought we were.”

Quite possibly the biggest threat the Tigers present is their depth in singles play. Between Thèrèse Bauer, Gemma Bauer and Rylee Thieren, those are three No. 1 singles players on any team.

Internally, it feels like they have a loaded roster given that their doubles teams have vastly improved with freshmen Addie Thieren, Tenley Poncelet and sophomore Lucy Beckman.

“It really does. My sister, very talented. Rylee, my doubles partner (for individual section and state competition),” Bauer said. “All three of us are very close and are very competitive with each other, which makes our team better.”

The Tigers ran through their regular season with what appeared to be little resistance. They were undefeated coming into the final match of the season prior to the team section tournament. It was then that the Tigers suffered their first loss to their more recent rival, Cannon Falls. 

“On Tuesday, when they beat us, they came to play and I'm not sure we did that day. It was good to get punched in the gut that day. I think we answered and rebounded today,” Dudley said of the 4-3 loss to the Bombers.

Now with a second straight section title, the Tigers feel they are better positioned for the state tournament. They present more of a challenge and have another year of experience in highly competitive matches. As Bauer said, they are a team to watch out for among the regular state entrants.

“The expectations are high, but we've set those for ourselves with how we've grown over the past couple years,” she said. “We know we can get there. The goal is always a state championship. Maybe we'll be able to bring home one of those this time.”

The Class A state tournament takes place at Inner City Tennis Center in Minneapolis. Team tournament matches are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 27 and Wednesday, Oct. 28.