First, there needs to be an editorial apology to start this story off. Marissa Welch, head tennis coach has been emailing the information to me here since the start of the season. Last year, there were no issues with emails arriving properly, but something changed this year and the emails ended up in my junk folder. Because of that, you, the reader, are going to get caught up very quick with the scores from the start of the season and you are getting an apology from me for not thinking of checking the junk folders. I am sorry for that. - Bruce 

Now, on to the story! 

The Hastings Girls Tennis team has had a quick and busy start to the season. They currently sit at 0-6-1 on the season with a couple close matches against some very good teams. Claire, Reese and Brooklyn Keller return to the Raiders after appearing in the state tournament last year as do some other key players with varsity experience. 

Their first match of the year was at East Ridge where they played the Raptors tough but just could not pull out the season opening win.  

East Ridge - 4, Hastings - 3,  

Singles: 

No. 1 - Claire Keller, Hastings def. Paige Heideman, East Ridge, 6-0, 5-7, 10-7 

No. 2 - Reese Keller, Hastings def. Mariana Velasquez, East Ridge, 6-3, 6-1 

No. 3 - Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Renee Baias, East Ridge, 6-0, 6-1 

No. 4 - Julia Simone, East Ridge def. Wills Nelson, Hastings, 6-1, 6-1 

Doubles: 

No. 1 - Selma Vander Linden - Anne Benjamin, East Ridge def. Ruby Rotty - Mikayla Schuster, Hastings, 6-0, 6-2 

No. 3 - Hannah Sandberg - Emily Tracy, East Ridge def. Emery Hedeen - Evy Hogan, Hastings, 6-0, 6-0 

No. 2 - Camilla Osuna - Sahasra Maddukuri, East Ridge def. Brooke Jelley - Jenna Brommerich, Hastings, 6-0, 6-2 

Hastings then went to the Rosemount invitational on Saturday, Aug 25 and they faced three teams, Park of Cottage Grove, East Ridge and Rosemount. 

Park - 5, Hastings - 2 

Singles: 

No. 1 - Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Grace Townsend, Park, 6-0, 6-0 

No. 2 - Camilla Brooks, Park def. Julia Rotty, Hastings, 6-1, 6-0 

No. 3 - Pasia Pitkanen, Park def. Evy Hogan, Hastings, 6-1, 6-4 

No. 4 - Lauren Osland, Park def. Sophia Johnson, Hastings, 6-1, 6-2 

Doubles: 

No. 1 - Reese Keller, Ruby Rotty, Hastings def. Olivia Evans - Madison Brinkman, Park, 6-0, 6-0 

No. 2 - Emery Lettner, Rebecca Etten, Park def. Mikayla Schuster - Jenna Brommerich, Hastings, 2-6, 6-2, 10-7 

No. 3 - Noelle Chapek, Chloe Newhouse, Park def. Wills Nelson - Emery Hedeen, Hastings, 6-2, 7-6 

East Ridge - 3, Hastings - 3,  

Singles: 

No. 1 - Claire Keller, Hastings def. Paige Heideman, East Ridge, 6-0, 5-7, 10-7 

No. 2 - Reese Keller, Hastings def. Mariana Velasquez, East Ridge, 6-3, 6-1 

No. 3 - Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Renee Baias, East Ridge, 6-0, 6-1 

No. 4 - Julia Simone, East Ridge def. Wills Nelson, Hastings, 6-1, 6-1 

Doubles: 

No. 1 - Selma Vander Linden - Anne Benjamin, East Ridge def. Ruby Rotty - Mikayla Schuster, Hastings, 6-0, 6-2 

No. 3 - Hannah Sandberg - Emily Tracy, East Ridge def. Emery Hedeen - Evy Hogan, Hastings, 6-0, 6-0 

Rosemount - 4, Hastings - 3,  

Singles: 

No. 1 - Claire Keller, Hastings def. Emily Hopke, Rosemount, 6-0, 6-0 

No. 2 - Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Riley Johnson, Rosemount, 6-1, 6-2 

No. 3 - Reese Keller, Hastings def. Prajna Hosamane, Rosemount, 6-0, 6-2 

No. 4 - Neha Chetty, Rosemount def. Emery Hedeen, Hastings, 6-1, 6-1 

Doubles: 

No. 1 - Ally Agpalasin - Olivia Bills, Rosemount def. Mikayla Schuster - Brooke Jelley, Hastings, 6-1, 6-2 

No. 2 - Anna Jahn - Savanna Jensen, Rosemount def. Ruby Rotty - Brooke Jelley, Hastings, 6-2, 6-4 

No. 3 - Kiara Avenido - Bree Ryherd, Rosemount def. Julia Rotty - Wills Nelson, Hastings, 6-2, 6-1 

On Mon, Aug 28, the girls played host to Roseville before traveling to Eastview on Wed, Aug 30. 

Roseville - 5, Hastings - 2,  

Singles: 

No. 1 - Marit Haugen, Roseville def. Claire Keller, Hastings, 7-6, 6-1 

No. 2 - Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Lucy Sundberg, Roseville, 6-2, 3-6, 15-13 

No. 3 - Reese Keller, Hastings def. Madeline Bergerson, Roseville, 7-6, 6-3 

No. 4 - Isabelle Ronneberg, Roseville def. Brooke Jelley, Hastings, 6-2, 6-0 

Doubles: 

No. 1 - Maddie Sundberg - Sophia Dang, Roseville def. Ruby Rotty - Mikayla Schuster, Hastings, 6-1, 7-6 

No. 2 - Melanie Gravdahl - Sara Peterson, Roseville def. Jenna Brommerich - Emery Hedeen, Hastings, 6-0, 6-0 

No. 3 - Amy Dang - Reese Johnston, Roseville def. Wills Nelson - Julia Rotty, Hastings, 6-2, 6-1 

Eastview - 6, Hastings - 1 

Singles: 

No. 1 - Claire Keller, Hastings def. Melat Tabara, Eastview, 6-3, 6-2 

No. 2 - Pemola Wachungtsang, Eastview def. Reese Keller, Hastings, 3-6, 6-2, 10-5 

No. 3 - Sophia Fan, Eastview def. Mikayla Schuster, Hastings, 6-1, 6-0 

No. 4 - Sai Gajjala, Eastview def. Jenna Brommerich, Hastings, 6-0, 6-1 

Doubles: 

No. 1 - Norah Brusco - Allie Peterson, Eastview def. Ruby Rotty - Brooke Jelley, Hastings, 7-5, 6-0 

No. 2 - Keira Burch - Emily Hering, Eastview def. Julia Rotty - Emery Hedeen, Hastings, 6-1, 6-0 

No. 3 - Molly Graff - Madelyn Ward, Eastview def. Wills Nelson - Sophia Johnson, Hastings, 6-2, 6-0 

The final match of the week was at Hastings against Visitation. 

Visitation - 5, Hastings - 2,  

Singles: 

No. 1 - Claire Keller, Hastings def. Meryl Rosenberger, Visitation, 6-0, 6-3 

No. 2 - Reese Keller, Hastings def. Reese Foley, Visitation, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 

No. 3 - Nora Commers, Visitation def. Wills Nelson, Hastings, 6-2, 6-0 

No. 4 - Kasia Bursey, Visitation def. Emery Hedeen, Hastings, 7-6, 6-0 

Doubles: 

No. 1 - Lily Callanan - Grace Keeley, Visitation def. Ruby Rotty - Mikayla Schuster, Hastings, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 

No. 2 - Jordyn Jarpe - Lauren Cameron, Visitation def. Brooke Jelley - Julia Rotty, Hastings, 6-2, 6-4 

No. 3 - Kiersti Joerger - Sarah Kodama, Visitation def. Sophia Johnson - Jenna Brommerich, Hastings, 6-0, 6-1 

Head Coach Marissa Welch was locked in on her girls at Eastview when we spoke to her. The losses to start the season have been all hard-fought and the girls are really coming together as a team. She expects that closeness to help carry them through the tough start. The girls are enjoying their time on the court and continue to improve. Hopefully, that momentum starts to produce wins and carries into the post season. 

The next chance to catch the girl’s tennis teams is Sept. 7 at John Glenn Junior High, then Sept. 8 at Farmington and back at home on Sept. 12 against South St. Paul. Tennis and Cross Country are the two sports that are listed on the Metro East Conference site with start times that do not always match up. The site says 3:30 p.m. start times but that is often the starting time the court is reserved, and the matches typically start around 4:00 p.m. for the afternoon duals.