Danielle Gannon has been atop the Class 1A girls' tennis individual rankings since the beginning of the season, and rightly so. The Holy Family senior had quite a junior year, advancing to the Class 1A singles finals before falling to St. Paul Academy's Sonya Das.

Holy Family coach Jack Roach says while Gannon might not have the natural ability of some of the top players in Class 2A, he won't allow anyone to work harder than his No. 1 singles player.

"She's significantly better than last year, but the biggest thing we'll try to do as we get closer to the end of the season is to work her hard," he said. "That's what we did last year, and it worked."

Gannon was 11-1 as a singles player through Saturday, when she won three matches to take first place at the Mankato West Invitational. The previous Tuesday she had suffered her first loss of the season, to Mound Westonka's Evann Welty.

"She won't let herself get knocked down by one loss," Roach said.

Gannon faces a challenge Thursday when she battles Orono's Zoe Lindbloom, who has been ranked in Class 2A for much the season.

Holy Family, Part II

The Fire also made a strong statement on the football field Friday when it rallied to win on the road, defeating Class 3A's No. 1-ranked New London-Spicer 26-16.

Holy Family rolled up 448 yards of total offense to just 171 for the Wildcats. But trailing 16-13 in the fourth quarter, the Fire needed a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs by senior running back Chazz Johnson, who scored from 22 yards and 16 yards out on consecutive drives for the victory. He finished with a game-high 172 yards and three touchdowns, giving him 545 yards and nine touchdowns rushing this season.

Volleyball under the radar

With the success of Orono's football and soccer teams this fall — the football team is 3-0 and ranked No. 5 in Class 4A while girls' soccer team is ranked No. 1 and the boys' team No. 5 in Class 1A — the Spartans volleyball team has quietly put together a strong season as well. Through Saturday, the team is 9-1. Senior middle hitter Julia Spacek has 116 kills and senior setter Rachel Heussner has 215 set assists.

Winning Wayzata ways

While Wayzata's football program is enduring a rare slump, other Trojans athletic teams are faring well this fall. Both the boys' and the girls' cross-country teams are ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, as is the girls' swimming team. The boys' soccer team is ranked No. 5 in Class 2A.