Superlatives have become mundane in the world of sports, but in the case of the Princeton girls' tennis team, the turnaround manufactured by coach Kelly Dorr is worthy of a superlative or two.
The Tigers are 23-1 and will make their first state tournament appearance when they face Prior Lake at noon Tuesday in the Class 2A team quarterfinals at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
It's Dorr's second stint as the school's tennis coach. She led the team from 1992 through 2001 before leaving to raise her daughters, Brianna and Kelsey. When she returned four years ago, she saw a glimmer of hope where others only saw years of losing.
Princeton had Mary Claire Mayerchak, then a freshman, who was among the top junior singles players in the state in her age group. After that, there was little except a string of sub-.500 seasons.
"I wanted to get kids playing again," said Dorr, herself a three-time state tournament entrant while in high school at Thief River Falls. "I saw a lot of good athletes in the school. I had two daughters playing, and we had them trying to get their friends to play."
The ploy worked, even better than Dorr had hoped. The influx of players, along with a new set of courts and the development of a winter tennis program has set the program on an upward curve.
In Dorr's second year as coach, the Tigers won the Granite Ridge Conference championship, their first tennis title ever. Last year they made it to the Class 2A, Section 7 finals before falling to Duluth East.
This season Mayerchak, now a senior, played at No. 1 singles followed by Brianna Dorr at No. 2 and Kelsey Dorr at No. 3. Princeton pulled away from the rest of the teams in its section.
"It really hasn't been as tough as I thought it would be," Dorr said. "We've given the kids the attention they need and they've all bought in together."
Dorr is a realist, however. She acknowledged her team of all-around athletes and part-time players will have difficulty succeeding against tennis's established powers.
"We're keeping our fingers crossed, but we know we're underdogs," Dorr said. "Our goal is to have a good showing and represent ourselves well. If anything, we want to be the classiest team in the tournament."
The program has a solid foundation, she said. It is still growing in the Princeton area, and Dorr believes this could be the first of many state tournament appearances.
"We could actually be deeper next year," she said. "We have three seniors, but we have carried 14 girls on the varsity all year, some as young as seventh and eighth grades. And there are a lot of little girls excited about playing tennis."
