By Bruce Karnick

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Academicbased athletics is meant to be about lessons, building perseverance, teamwork, fitness, and so much more. Skills that student athletes can and do carry with them into the world at large. This last weekend tested the mettle of the Raiders tennis team and showed just how strong their ability to persevere is.

First up for the week was their match at Simley where Hastings won a tough conference win. Defeating the Spartans 43.

Singles:

No. 1 Claire Keller, Hastings def. Kiera Schmid, Simley, 60, 61 No. 2 Reese Keller, Hastings def. Leah Thoemke, Simley, 62, 60 No. 3 Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Cailynn Thomas, Simley, 61, 76 No. 4 Vanessa Leonard, Simley def. Autumn Winkler, Hastings, 26, 64, 10 Doubles:

No. 1 Leedia Xiong Rose Burrows, Simley def. Mikayla Schuster Jade Lindgren, Hastings, 62, 16, 62 No. 2 Ruby Rotty Brooke Jelley, Hastings def. Taylor Oster Alaina Ries, Simley, 61, 75 No. 3 Angelin Nalitan McKenzie Ries, Simley def. Amber Keller Megan McGrath, Hastings, 61, 62.

The second match of the week, the Raiders returned home to totally control North St. Paul on Thursday, winning 70.

Singles:

No. 1 Claire Keller, Hastings def. Jaileah Yang, North St. Paul, 60, 60 No. 2 Reese Keller, Hastings def. Sage Kolberg, North St. Paul, 60, 60 No. 3 Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Tammy Liu, North St. Paul, 60, 60 No. 4 Amber Keller, Hastings def. Leah Burney, North St. Paul, 62, 61 Doubles:

No. 1 Mikayla Schuster Autumn Winkler, Hastings def. Quinn Kirchoff Lillian Johnson, North St. Paul, 61, 60 No. 2 Ruby Rotty Brooke Jelley, Hastings def. Cecelia Gorracki Natalia Fisehaye, North St. Paul, 60, 60 No. 3 Jade Lindgren Ella Dohmen, Hastings def. Jade Kirchoff Dafney Maelle Sagnew Yondjou, North St. Paul, 60, 61 After dominating North St. Paul on Thursday, Hastings faced three very tough opponents at an invite last weekend and they played extremely gutty performances against some of the stronger teams in the area. Many of the matches went into third sets and many of the sets went deep with the number of games in the set. The three teams Hastings faced were Elk River, Eagan and Winona.

Winona 4 Hastings 3, Singles:

No. 1 Claire Keller, Hastings def. Molly Heinert, Winona, 61, 62 No. 2 Adele Jacobsen, Winona def. Reese Keller, Hastings, 64, 63 No. 3 Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Julia Reeck, Winona, 61, 10 No. 4 Jaida Oudel, Winona def. Jade Lindgren, Hastings, 63, 63 Doubles: No. 1 Mikayla Schuster Autumn Winkler, Hastings def. Marissa McNally Anna Bricco, Winona, 36, 61, 105 No. 2 Josie Gundersen Velaina Kiesel, Winona def. Ruby Rotty Brooke Jelley, Hastings, 64, 67, 105 No. 3 Brianna Styba Lauren Steinfeldt, Winona def. Amber Keller Megan McGrath, Hastings, 75, 61 Eagan 4 Hastings 3, Singles: No. 1 Cassandra Li, Eagan def. Claire Keller, Hastings, 61, 61 No. 2 Reese Keller, Hastings def. Julia Pankratz, Eagan, 60, 60 No. 3 Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Macy Redetzke, Eagan, 62, 64 No. 4 Claudia Beckwith, Eagan def. Amber Keller, Hastings, 36, 60, 108 Doubles: No. 1 Greta Peterson Emily Wong, Eagan def. Mikayla Schuster Autumn Winkler, Hastings, 63, 62 No. 2 Emerson Chaloux Drew Buslee, Eagan def. Ruby Rotty Brooke Jelley, Hastings, 62, 62 No. 3 Jade Lindgren Megan McGrath, Hastings def. Eesha Kulkarni Maggie Cahill, Eagan, 46, 75, 108 Elk River 6 Hastings 1

Singles:

No. 1 Ava Nelson, Elk River def. Claire Keller, Hastings, 62, 67, 104 No. 2 Reese Keller, Hastings def. Paige Johnson, Elk River, 26, 26 No. 3 Lauren Lee, Elk River def. Brooklyn Keller, Hastings, 62, 64 No. 4 Tillie Johnson, Elk River def. Amber Keller, Hastings, 60, 60 Doubles: No. 1 Kate Perbix Mya Nelson, Elk River def. Autumn Winkler Mikayla Schuster, Hastings, 61, 60 No. 2 Karly Hermanson Leah Skogquist-Berg, Elk River def. Ruby Rotty Brooke Jelley, Hastings, 62, 62 No. 3 Delaney Lundquist Emme Jorgenson, Elk River def. Jade Lindgren Megan Mc-Grath, Hastings, 60, 60 The Raider ladies are playing well and heading in the right direction as the season approaches playoff time. That is a testament to their coaches and their coachability. Head Coach Marissa Welch has repeatedly mentioned how much she loves coaching these girls and just how open they are to being coached, a huge life lesson for these kids to learn and to know they are doing it well. The end of the season should be an exciting time to be a Raider tennis fan.

The next chance to see the girls play will be Sep. 22, at Mahtomedi at 4 p.m., then Sep. 26 against Burnsville and Sep. 27 against Two Rivers, both at 4 p.m. at home.