Tennis

Sunday, October 26

Post-season banquet

     The Aitkin Gobblers girl's tennis season came to an end Monday at the Section 7A Individual Tournament in Sartell. In the Singles competition Peyton Perrine lost to Alana Linnell of Pine City 6-0, 6-1 and Ev Nordberg lost to Brooke Boland of Pine City 6-0, 6-0. In Doubles Vera Eisenbraun and Hailey Munsterteiger lost to Della Seyfer and Madeline Plote of Stella Maris 6-0, 6-2 and Addie Steffens and Maelie Kazmerzak lost to Abbie Virnig and Laura Young of Pierz 6-1, 6-3.

     The Aitkin Gobblers are ready for the Section Individual Tournament on Monday. Here's the Gobbler lineup.

Singles

Ev Nordberg

Peyton Perrine

Doubles

Addie Steffens and Maelie Kazmerzak

Vera Eisenbraun and Hailey Munsterteiger

      The  Aitkin Gobblers lost to perennial powerhouse Pine City at home Tuesday 7-0.

#1 Singles Brooke Boland (PC) beat Peyton Perrine (A) 6-1, 6-0

#2 Singles Alana Linnell (PC) beat Maelie Kazmerzak (A) 6-0, 6-0

#3 Singles Allyssa Miller (PC) beat Cassi Smythe (A) 6-0, 6-2

#4 Singles Myra Ronbinek (PC) beat Gretta Peterson (A) 6-1, 6-0

#1 Doubles Vivian Lahti/Kate Unverzagt (PC) beat Addie Steffens/Vera Eisenbraun (A) 6-1, 6-1

#2 Doubles Brecklyn Nicoll/Lily Rootkin (PC) beat Ev Nordberg/Hailey Munsterteiger (A) 6-0, 6-1

#3 Doubles Kendall Steele/Mallory Cleppert (PC) beat Lynae Kinzer/Lola Searle (A) 6-0, 6-0

     The Gobblers are back in action Thursday at Mora.

      The Aitkin Gobblers and the C-I Rangers finally got together on the tennis court Monday after a pair of postponements and the Rangers edged Aitkin 4-3 at the Don Hagestuen Tennis Center. C-I won all four singles matches to secure the victory.

#1 Singles Tori Oehrlein (CI) beat Peyton Perrine (A) 6-0, 6-0

#2 Singles Emma Silgen (CI) beat Maelie Kazmerzak (A) 6-0, 6-0

#3 Singles Nellie Fitzpatrick (CI) beat Cassi Smythe (A) 6-1, 6-0

#4 Singles Madelaine Fleming (CI) beat Lynae Kinzer (A) 6-1, 6-3

#1 Doubles Addie Steffens/Vera Eisenbraun (A) beat Kately Bill/Ava Smith (CI) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2

#2 Doubles Hailey Munsterteiger/Ev Nordberg (A) beat Mary Kramer/Emma Mielke (CI) 6-3, 6-1

#3 Doubles Lola Searle/Gretta Peterson (A) beat Madi Baner/Ann Charnley (CI) 6-1, 6-0 

      The Gobbler JH/JV also played four matches with C-I. Winners for the Gobblers were doubles teams of Morgan Poland and Taylor Daniels and Mylie Benson and Cami Marshik. 

       The Aitkin Gobblers were shutout on the road by the Foley Falcons Thursday, 7-0. The Gobblers record fell to 5-13 with the loss.

#1 Singles Olivia Saver (F) beat Maelie Kazmerzak (A) 6-0, 6-2

#2 Singles Lydia Anderson (F) beat Ev Nordberg (A) 6-0, 6-0

#3 Singles Alana Miller (F) beat Cassi Smythe (A) 6-1, 6-0

#4 Singles Rony Keating (F) beat Lola Searle (A) 6-0, 6-1

#1 Doubles Ashlynn Gapinski/Jaida Fleck (F) beat Addie Steffens/Vera Eisenbraun (A) 6-1, 6-3

#2 Doubles Hailey Melgren/Abby Kampa (F) beat Peyton Perrine/Hailey Munsterteiger (A) 6-1, 6-3

#3 Doubles Sage Greenwaldt/Lexi Garceau (F) beat Morgan Poland/Taylor Daniels (A) 6-3, 6-2

         The Gobblers host C-I on Monday.

       The Aitkin Gobblers wee on the road Tuesday and suffered a 6-1 loss to the Pequot Lakes Patriots.

#1 Singles Nikki Crocker (PL) beat Maelie Kazmerzak (A) 6-3, 6-3

#2 Singles Emme Sullivan (PL) beat Peyton Perrine (A) 6-3, 6-0

#3 Singles Claire Oseland (PL) beat Cassi Smythe (A) 6-0, 6-0

#4 Singles Sadie McGuire (PL) beat Lynae Kinzer (A) 6-0, 6-0

#1 Doubles Sierra Larson/Francine Ganley (PL) beat Addie Steffens/Vera Eisenbraun (A) 5-7, 6-4, (10-4)

#2 Doubles Ev Nordberg/Hailey Munsterteiger (A) beat Keira Strong/Chloe Jobe (PL) 6-4, 6-2

#3 Doubles Bailey Westerman/Briella Eggert (PL) beat Morgan Poland/Taylor Daniels (A) 7-5, 6-4

         The Gobblers travel to Foley on Thursday.

      Addie Steffens is a junior tennis player for the Aitkin Gobblers, and I had a chance to catch up with her at practice recently. In fact, we played a quick three sets. Here's how it went.

Set Number One

How long have you been playing tennis?

"Almost all my life, I remember batting the ball around with my parents when I was little. I've been playing varsity since 8th grade."

What brought you to the game of tennis?

"I like tennis, I enjoy the style of play. I can control my game; it's a team sport too but I can also do what I have to do to control things."

Set Number Two

Singles or doubles?

"I'm on the fence on that one, I like the feel of doubles, shared responsibilities but singles, I'm on my own, it's all on me."

How have you improved since last year?

"Oh, so much compared to last year. I am 7-5 so far in matches this season and I'm proud of that. I keep track of my win-loss, and I've improved that a lot."

Set Number Three

What are your goals for this year?

I would love to have more wins and get past the first round of the Section playoff. I played in some summer tournaments and attended camp, so I think I've done the work, and it shows so far this season. I want to put it all together and see where it leads me."

Tiebreaker with Coach Waldorf

Tell me about Addie Steffens

"She is a great kid; she has done a lot of summer work and that's what it takes. When she plays doubles, she puts the ball exactly where she wants to on the court. That is a big improvement from last season. That comes from getting on the court. She attended at least one camp, played tournaments, put in the time. She's very coachable and although she plays a lot of doubles, she can play a singles match once in a while if I need her to. She knows the expectations and goes after it, match after match. Just a good kid to have on the team."

      Addie is determined, I found that out just by talking to this young lady and honestly, I really couldn't go three points against her, let alone three sets!