'She deserves the attention'

If Ingrid Neel ever felt like an outsider playing for the Rochester Mayo boys' tennis team -- and she insists she has not -- she certainly earned her place Tuesday.

Playing up a position at No. 2 singles, the precocious seventh-grader blew past Eden Prairie's Salam Bachour 6-0, 7-5, pacing the Spartans to a 5-2 victory over the defending champion Eagles in the Class 2A quarterfinals at the boys' tennis state tournament at the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center.

"I don't feel like I've ever been anything but another member of the team," said Neel, who is ranked No. 8 nationally for seventh-grade girls by www.tennisrecruiting.net. "The team accepted me right away."

Which is exactly why Neel chose to play for the boys' team. The decision met with widely varied opinions and was reported nationally on websites and in the New York Times, but Neel never let the attention affect her tennis.

"That's because her heart was in the right place," said her mother, Hildy. "She never doubted her decision to play because she did it for the right reason. It was all about her growth as a player and her growth as a person."

Neel played No. 3 singles for much of the season but Mayo coach Jeff Demaray altered his lineup Tuesday, moving Neel to No. 2. She responded by rolling over Bachour in the first set and survived his improved play to eke out a second-set victory and win the match.

"She's a great player," said Bachour after the match. "She has all the shots. She deserves the attention she gets."

"Playing team tennis is super fun," she said. "It gives you another reason to play. I always give 100 percent in any match I play, but team tennis makes me want to give 110 percent."

Mayo will play Elk River, a 5-2 winner over Eastview, in Wednesday's lower-bracket semifinal at 8 a.m.

Shrugging off an injuryAn injury to his right shoulder has hampered Scott Vezzosi for the better part of two seasons.

It forced the Wayzata senior to serve underhand for his junior season. He still serves overhand only once per week.

Sore shoulder or not, Vezzosi played perhaps his strongest match in two years Tuesday, beating Mounds View's Max Schaper 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 at No. 2 singles to give Wayzata a 4-3 quarterfinals victory.

His strategy paid off when Schaper's right hand began to cramp up in the final set, leading to numerous unforced errors.

"That wasn't the main reason he lost, but it was a factor," Mounds View coach Mike Cartwright said.

A team victory might have been Vezzosi's main goal, but it was hardly his sole incentive. Rest, for himself and his injured shoulder, was foremost in his mind.

"Not having to play [in the consolation semifinals] later today was my main motivation," he said.

With the victory, Wayzata moves on to play Mahtomedi, a 5-2 victor over Forest Lake, in the upper-bracket semifinal.

So the venue brought out industrial fans to cool the players in the tennis bubbles and tournament officials kept a close eye on the heat index.