Class AAA Championship: Rochester Mayo 6, Edina 1

Rochester Mayo’s bus ride to the Twin Cities for the Minnesota State High School League’s Girls Tennis State Tournament this week was more crowded than ever. In a program first, Spartans coach Jeff Demaray invited 21 players to come along so they could experience the power and exhilaration of competing on Minnesota’s grandest stage to end the season. 

“It’s the most we’ve ever brought,” he said with a smile Wednesday at the Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota campus. “We want the younger players to see what this state tournament is all about and to light a fire under them to continue.”

What their Spartans teammates have created since 2019, really, is a blaze of dominance. 

The program’s run of success added another ember with a 6-1 victory over Edina in the Class AAA championship match. It is Rochester Mayo’s fourth consecutive Class AAA crown and extended its winning streak against Minnesota teams to 93 in a row. 

The Spartans, playing in the state tournament for the 29th time in the past 30 seasons, advanced to the final with a 7-0 victory over Mounds View earlier in the day. Edina advanced with a 4-3 victory over Minnetonka in the other semifinal. 

“This is a special group of players we’ve had year after year,” Demaray said. “They’ve worked incredibly hard and have done everything we’ve asked of that. That work ethic and controlled mindset is contagious. That keeps this run going. This is a great opportunity for the players that aren’t playing now to be a part of this success in the future.”

The last time Rochester Mayo lost to a Minnesota team was in 2022 and that setback was to Minnetonka in the big-school championship match. Earlier this season, Rochester Mayo had its 81-game winning streak snapped by Brookfield East, the two-time defending Wisconsin state champion.  

In a classic match between two state powers, Brookfield East outlasted Rochester Mayo for a 4-3 victory. Demaray describes it as a “quality loss.”

Longtime Rochester Post Bulletin sportswriter Pat Ruff has seen the evolution and continuate of this dominant Spartans’ run.

“The run that the Rochester Mayo Girls Tennis team has been on has been truly remarkable,” he said. “Tennis is a sport that is dominated in Rochester, with two indoor tennis clubs in a city of 122,000 and this active tennis community taking full advantage. Mayo may be sitting with its best team ever this season.”

Demaray didn’t need any motivational rah-rah kind of speeches to his team prior to the championship match.

“They embrace the philosophy of keeping things simple and managing what they can control. We can control the next point and focus on the points after that with a positive attitude. We don’t show any frustration either. That repetition is important for us.”

No. 1 Singles: Rashi Singh (Edina) defeated Aoife Loftus (Mayo), 6-2, 7-6 (5)
No. 2 Singles: Malea Diehn (Mayo) defeated Bella Loucks (Edina), 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 Singles: Eliana Elder (Mayo) defeated Sophia Zeng (Edina), 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 Singles: Emily Loftus (Mayo) defeated Mylana Hallaway (Edina), 6-0, 6-4
No. 1 Doubles: Eden Bendel and Annabelle Camp (Mayo) defeated Sarah Levine and Alison Schmidt (Edina), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 Doubles: Grace Pickering and Ella Brinkman (Mayo) defeated Madeline Sundick and Berit Larson (Edina), 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 Doubles: Mia Zoughby and Diane Menuier (Mayo) defeated Cecilia Bourne and Avery Hardt (Mayo), 6-3, 6-2