Tennis: Skippers' lineup juggling pays off in quarterfinals

The growth was evident and on display early Tuesday morning.

That's when the Minnetonka girls' tennis team showed it is more than just Aria Lambert and her supporting cast.

The Skippers beat Mounds View 4-3 in the most compelling quarterfinal match of the Class 2A girls' tennis tournament at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

With one of their top singles players sidelined because of a knee injury, Skippers coach Dave Stearns was forced to reconfigure his lineup, moving a pair of singles players to doubles and replacing them with a player who normally played No. 3 doubles in Maddie Rossebo and a player, Claire Pfleiderer, who was originally listed as an alternate.

Lambert, the defending Class 2A champion and the state's best singles player, won her match at No. 1 singles and Rossebo and Pfleiderer won their matches at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, giving Minnetonka three points. When Maya MacGibbon and Sydney Baldwin clinched a hard-fought victory at No. 3 doubles, the Skippers had earned a spot in today's semifinals.

"Being here last year helped a lot," Stearns said. "I've talked to them many times about giving themselves permission to succeed. They've learned to replace tension with intensity."

That, said MacGibbon, made the difference between winning and losing.

"We've learned to focus on every point and not get nervous," she said.

Minnetonka will face No. 1 ranked Edina in one semifinal today. Edina, which has won 12 consecutive Class 2A titles, beat No. 2-ranked Rochester Mayo 6-1. In the other quarterfinals, Cretin-Derham Hall downed Rosemount 4-3 and No. 4-ranked Elk River beat Brainerd 6-1.

It had become fashionable in tennis circles to predict the demise of Rochester Lourdes. The Eagles, who have won 11 of the past 12 Class 1A team championships, were thought to be vulnerable this year.

In fact, their first-round opponent, Staples-Motley, was ranked No. 3 in the final state coaches association poll, one spot ahead of Lourdes.

But Staples-Motley -- and tennis fans in general -- found out that picking against Rochester Lourdes in big matches is a risky thing to do.

The Eagles, in their typically efficient manner, beat Staples- Motley 6-1 in the Class 1A quarterfinals at the Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

"We just come up here to play tennis and do what we have to do," Lourdes coach Kevin Rust said. "We don't come up here to party."

The Eagles got a boost this season when Courtney Rust -- Kevin's daughter -- decided to return to tennis after taking nearly a year off.

Tuesday, she beat Staples-Motley's Abby Edin, who was ranked No. 3 in Class 1A in singles, 6-4, 6-3, elevating her game in the way Lourdes players usually do.

"I felt rejuvenated and excited to come back," Courtney Rust said. "It's hard to get away from tennis in my house, so it wasn't that hard to come back."

Rochester Lourdes will play Waseca, a 5-2 winner over Benson/KMS, in one of today's semifinals. The other semifinal will pit No. 1-ranked Mounds Park Academy, which beat St. James 4-3, against Virginia, a 5-2 victor over Roseau.