Champlin Park girls tennis had a week to remember recently, notching big wins over Anoka and Totino-Grace on Sept. 22 and 23 to improve its overall record to 9-6.
The Rebels have had a wide range of results come their way this fall, starting with a decisive 7-0 win over Armstrong on Aug. 20. A win over Buffalo followed during a tournament that saw them also lose to Rogers and Rosemount.
Champlin Park added two wins on Aug. 26 and 27, including a revenge 4-3 win over Rogers, before losing to Chisago Lakes, Elk River and Blaine in early September. The Rebels then beat Spring Lake Park on Sept. 15, Osseo on Sept. 16 and Andover on Sept. 17. They arrived last week with a 7-6 overall record.
Last week began with a successful battle for the paddle, beating Anoka 7-0. The singles players completed a dominant run against the Tornadoes with both Camilla Palmer (No. 1 singles) and Finley Kelleher (No. 2 singles) winning 6-0, 6-0. Libby Hultgren won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles, while Addi Hamilton won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
Doubles play brought more challenges, but the Rebels handled the job. Jordan Ozman and Ella Dang battled to a 4-6, 7-5, 11-9 win at No. 1 doubles, while the pairings of Kiera Dau and Lauren Kind won at No. 2 doubles and Katie Olson and Mallory Mendiola battled to a win at No. 3 doubles.
That moved Champlin Park on to what proved to be one of its more eventful matchups of the entire season, hosting Totino-Grace. The Eagles arrived undefeated for the season, 12-0, and looking to stay that way.
Totino-Grace’s cause was well-defended, with the Eagles winning second through fourth singles. Palmer got Champlin Park a key win, however, in No. 1 singles with a 6-4, 6-1 win against a talented opponent, Camila Munoz. The day would be decided in doubles play. An early 7-6, 6-4 win for the Rebels at No. 2 doubles via Dau and Kind got things moving in the right direction. Ozman and Dang lost their first set 6-4, but responded with 7-5 and 6-0 victories to win over three sets and tie the overall score at 3-3.
This meant that it all rested on the No. 3 doubles match. Olson and Mendiola faced off with Elle Vandermyde and Ella Gallagher. The Eagles won set one, but the Rebels responded well to a slow start and won set two 6-3. Yet another match would be decided by a third set, but even that proved not enough as the teams went back and forth, keeping the score tight. The set arrived at 6-6 and required a tiebreaker as the sun literally set on the day’s action. The third set had already been a frantic chess match between players all looking for a big win, but the tiebreaker doubled down on that energy. Totino-Grace started well in the race for seven points but was unable to shake Champlin Park. The Eagles eventually reached seven points, but with the Rebels just one point behind. The play went on and on, neither team quite separating themselves, until suddenly a momentum shift and a few smart plays, combined with a few errors, surged Olson and Mendiola ahead to a 10-8 win. Cue the celebrations.
Champlin Park had arrived Wednesday looking to keep its matches close, but it left as the first team to defeat Totino-Grace in official play this fall.
Progress and perspective
Head coach Brad Gullickson told the Sun Post that the nature of the win over Totino-Grace was exciting for a Rebels team that has worked toward winning more close matchups.
“It’s super exciting to get a win like this. We’ve had so many close matches,” Gullickson said. “Whether we win 5-2 or lose 5-2, we’re here late. So, it’s fun to see a really, really close one go down to the wire and walk away winners. We were down two match points in that last doubles match and came back. It’s great for the girls to succeed after facing that pressure and intensity.”
The longtime Champlin Park coach added that his roster, which leans toward the older side, has the ability and experience to build on wins like those earned against Anoka and the Eagles.
“There’s a lot of experience in this team. Out of my top 14 players, nine are seniors and five are juniors,” Gullickson observed. “They all love each other and they’re just good kids that really enjoy competing with each other. So, they’ve all improved, but for the most part they’ve been around the program for a long time and this season was more about learning from the ups and downs and seeing if they can use that to their advantage on days like today.”
Gullickson noted that, while the Rebels do have a tough group to face in a few weeks when sections begin, he hopes his players can take the right lessons away from a big win over Totino-Grace to help the cause.
“Obviously, you never know what will happen in sections,” he continued. “There’s, of course, two teams that are significantly stronger than the others, but on the right day there’s a chance if you play well. You can make things interesting. So, it’s good for them to be able to refer back to matches like today and be able to say to themselves, ‘Hey, we didn’t think we’d win this one.’ Any opportunity to draw some energy and inspiration is good.”
Champlin Park will wrap up its regular season the following week, hosting Park Center on Tuesday, Sept. 29, before traveling to play St. Michael-Albertville on Wednesday, Sept. 30.