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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2022 | BRAINERD DISPATCH
BRAINERDDISPATCH.COM
GIRLS TENNIS
Experience and consistency hope to shine for Warriors By Conrad Engstrom Brainerd Dispatch With multiple returners from last year’s team, which finished undefeated in the Central Lakes Conference and made the Section 7-2A Semifinals, the now hall of fame coach Lisa Salo is excited about this season. One of those returners is Ella Chaussee. The senior captain who has No. 1 singles experience finished last year 18-9 and owns 42 career wins which is the most on the team. She made the semifinals in the Section 7-2A individual singles tournament. “Ella has a lot of experience to draw upon,” Salo said. “She’s been a varsity competitor since ninth grade and has built a lot of confidence and an all-court game. She just has a confidence that is really going to help her and her game is very versalite.” Junior Lila Collins is coming off a sophomore season in which she went 23-4 being mostly paired with Brynne Folden at No. 1 doubles. The pair reached the semifinals in the Section 7-2A doubles tournament. With Folden now playing tennis at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Salo said to look for Collins to play singles this season. “She comes back with this incredible doubles experience and had a great season last year,” Salo said. “But this year, singles will be an option for her and we are going to look at a potential lineup with her in the singles lineup and then a lineup with her in the doubles lineup. We will see where she will be most effective for our team because she is definitely a very good tennis player. She’s gritty, has all the shots and is very quick.” At a doubles spot, the pair of sophomore
Ericah Folden and junior Claire Erdal have emerged as favorites. Last season, Folden played mostly No. 2 doubles as a freshman with Lindsy Busch and finished 22-3. Erdal played mostly No. 3 doubles and finished 16-4. Now going into their second full varsity season, Salo thinks both have improved. “Ericah comes back with a lot of experience and was very competitive at doubles last year,” Salo said. “She loves to compete and we are trying to find that balance with her being more level and not getting too up and down with her game, but we do see her playing a doubles position. “And Claire has had significant improvement. Watching her this summer, she is one of our most improved. She is much more consistent with a more powerful shot and more offensive. She has improved all-around. Last year, she mostly played in the third doubles spot and they had a lot of high-pressure matches to determine which team would win. She grew in that and that will help her this year. “Both Claire and Ericah seem to be a combination that can be effective with our team.” Junior Lacy Busch was another varsity rookie last season and played at No. 4 singles where she tallied a 20-3 record. “She learned a lot last year about harnessing her power,” Salo said. “She is an incredible power hitter on every shot. And she has all the shots, but it’s about harnessing that power and building consistency with her. She’s a tremendous competitor and coming off an incredible softball season.” The last two returners for Salo only saw eight varsity matches
Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
Lacy Busch (left), Claire Erdal, Ella Chaussee, Lila Collins and Ericah Folden are all returning players for the 2022 Brainerd girls tennis team.
ROSTER
SCHEDULE
Ź Seniors: Paige Beyer, Rilee Borders, Ellie Brown, Ella Chaussee, Taylor Harrington, Hannah Hayes Ź Juniors: Lacy Busch, Lila Collins, Bailey Czech, Olivia Dehning, Brooklyn Dietz, Claire Erdal, Lauren Kline, Lydia Olson, Lydia Omberg, Jasmine Patnoe Ź Sophomores: Kaya Anderson, Audrey Breen, Lauren Castle, Nola Doty, Ericah Folden, Reese Glynn, Lily Knoepke, Stella Lundberg, Brooke Mulholland, Abi Neelan, Sophie Schamber, Isabella Simota, Isabelle Smith, Eva Zernov Ź Freshmen: Callista Anderson, Isabell Bednark, Ava Capelle, Jessica Cole, Fern French, Ava Haskell, Kamryn Kraemer, Taylor Manecke, Savannah Mendel, Maureen Paulus, Dana Skaaland, Leah Soukup, Rebekah Soukup
Tuesday, Aug. 23, hosts Foley, Grand Rapids 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24, at Chisago Lakes triangular 9 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, at Delano Invite 9 a.m. Aug. 27: hosts Andover, Hutchinson, Woodbury 9 a.m. Aug. 29: hosts Camp Lake Hubert Overnight Invite 9 a.m. Sept 1: at St. Cloud 11 a.m. Sept 6: at Sauk Rapids 4:30 p.m.
between the two of them in senior captain Ellie Brown (0-2) and junior Lydia Omberg (4-2). To fill out the varsity roster, Salo said senior captains Hannah Hayes and Paige Beyer, along with junior Brooklyn Dietz, Lauren Kline and Lydia Olson will compete. The underclassmen that could see some varsity court time are sophomore Brooke Mulholland and freshmen Jessica Cole and Kamryn Kraemer. “What jumps out is how many of our girls have really worked on their game,” Salo said. “We are going to have a deep team with a lot of skill level that’s pretty even, but different levels of competitive experience.” The Warriors open their season Tuesday, Aug. 23, with a triangular at home against Foley and Section 7-2A foe Grand Rapids. They then travel to Chisago Lakes Wednesday for a triangular. The Warriors will then
spend the night as they play at the Delano Invite Thursday morning. It’ll be an opportunity for players to prove themselves. “Things will shake out,” Salo said. “And we always talk about how we want each player to push their teammates to be stronger so that they will grow in their game as well. Each athlete will have a role on our team whether that’s varsity or JV and whether that’s singles or doubles. We anticipate some lineup changes and that just shows the strength of our program. “We have an intense week and a half of competition coming up and we knew it. We fit a lot of stuff in before school and we added that Chisago Lakes tri in there and then the next day we go to Delano to compete. I talked to some of our veterans over the summer when we had the opportunity to schedule a couple of section teams in Chisago and Forest Lake and they wanted to do it.”
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Good Luck Athletes!
Good Luck Athletes!
Sept: 8 hosts Fergus Falls 4:30 p.m. Sept 10: hosts Moose Lake Tournament 9 a.m. Sept 13: hosts Pequot Lakes, Sartell 2 p.m. Sept 15: hosts Willmar 4:30 p.m. Sept 20: hosts Alexandria 4:30 p.m. Sept 24: hosts Duluth East, Osakis, St. MichaelAlbertville 9 a.m. Sept 27: at Rocori 4:30 p.m. Oct. 4, 6, 13, 15: Team Sections Oct. 11, 18: Individual Sections
GIRLS TENNIS Ź Head coach: Lisa Salo, 18th season (1985-92, 201322) Ź 2022 finish: 7-0 in CLC, 18-2 overall Ź Assistant coaches: Chad Anderson, Tracy Hopperstad, Bruce Thompson (volunteer), Bruce Boland (volunteer) Ź Managers: Nicole Heitkotter, Cassidy Grimsley Ź Returning section individual players: Ella Chaussee, Lila Collins Ź Captains: Ella Chaussee, Ellie Brown, Hannah Hayes, Paige Beyer
The Warriors will enjoy a long home stand from Sept. 8 thru Sept. 24. “We needed to add section matches,” Salo said. “It’s our second season in Section 7-2A and last year we only competed in two of them during the season because the switch was made so late that our schedule had already been made. So we added some more of those which are important for section seeding.” The goal for the Warriors this season is to host the Section 7-2A tournament. “It’s going to be about improvement each week
and finding what role each of our players will be most competitive in for our team,” Salo said. “We have some tough teams in our sections, but we believe we are one of them. One of our goals this year will be to host matches during tournament play. This section does high-seed host so the higher seed we get the more matches we get to host during tournament time. And we believe we could host quite a few.” CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-8555861 or conrad.engstrom@ brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www. twitter.com/the_rad34.
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