As a captain and a five-year varsity veteran, Minnetonka senior Bri Smith has no illusions about the meaning of high school tennis. Individual glory is possible, sure, but at the high school level, it's all about the team.

That's why Smith, a singles player for most of her high school career, jumped at the chance to play doubles with sophomore Theresa Tebon this season.

Minnetonka, the No. 2-seeded team in the Class 2A girls' tennis tournament, defeated perennial power Mounds View 5-2 in Tuesday's quarterfinals at the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center.

Smith and Tebon, who have lost only once this year, played their role to perfection, winning at No. 1 doubles 6-2, 6-1.

With a pair of eighth-grade singles specialists on the roster in Bella Lambert and Anna Letto, Minnetonka coach Dave Stearns thought the Skippers would be best served by pairing Smith and Tebon.

"He brought it up before the season, and I thought it was a great idea," Smith said. "We have great chemistry together. If it's best for the team, then that's what I want to do."

In fact, the only losses suffered by the Skippers came at the first two singles positions, where Lambert lost to defending state champion Summer Brills 6-1, 6-0 and Letto fell to Alexandra Kopiecki 6-2, 6-3, emphasizing the importance of all seven positions on the roster.

"From a team standpoint, a win at No. 1 doubles or No. 3 doubles counts the same as a win at No. 1 singles," Smith said. "Honestly, that's all that matters."

A little retribution

While her team lost, Brills admitted to a little extra determination in her quarterfinals victory. In September, Brills lost to Lambert in three sets in the Rochester Mayo Invitational, her only loss of the season. It knocked her briefly from the No. 1 spot in the Class 2A state rankings, which she subsequently regained.

"I was ready," Brills said. "There was a little revenge factor there."

Brills said playing in the team tournament is good preparation for defending her individual state championship beginning Thursday.

"I'm so excited to be here," Brills said. "I go off of excitement a lot of the time. This gets me ready for the singles tournament. I'm not worried about getting tired."

In the other Class 2A quarterfinals, Edina remained on track to win its 17th consecutive championship with a 6-1 victory over Duluth East.

The Hornets will play Rochester Mayo in Wednesday's semifinals. The Spartans swept St. Cloud Tech 7-0.

Minnetonka will face Prior Lake, the No. 3-seed in the tournament, in the other semifinal. The Lakers beat Mahtomedi 6-1.

There were no surprises in the Class 1A quarterfinals at the Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

Top-ranked Breck beat Osakis 6-1, No. 2 St. James got past Foley 4-3 on the strength of Julia Boeve's three-set victory at No. 2 singles, No. 3 Rochester Lourdes held off Providence Academy 4-3 and No. 6 Staples-Motley got past United South Central 5-2.