By Bruce Karnick

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With the flurry of matches coming just a week into the season, the Hastings girl’s tennis team has had their hands full. The first match was just four days into the season, a 5-2 victory over Northfield. Last week, the girls had three matches. Monday night they had a scrimmage against East Ridge. Tuesday they faced another tough squad, the Burnsville Blaze, and Friday was supposed to be the Hastings Invitational to be held at the high school.

The match against Burnsville went well for the most part. Burnsville is always a tough opponent and Hastings made them earn everything. Three of the seven matches went three sets, and the third sets all went into double digit games.

Singles: No. 1 – Claire Keller, Hastings def. Sami Bowlby, Burnsville, 6-2 , 6-1 No. 2 – Addie Bowlby, Burnsville def. Charlotte Kranz, Hastings, 6-4 , 6-2 No. 3 – Madisyn Krumholz, Burnsville def. Reese Keller, Hastings, 3-6 , 6-1 , 13-11 No. 4 – Autumn Winkler, Hastings def. Sidney Handrahan, Burnsville, 6-4 , 3-6 , 10-7 Doubles: No. 1 – Shawna Bruha & Ashley King, Burnsville def. Chloe Konrady & Molly Moran, Hastings, 6-3 , 6-0 No. 2 – Ema Handzija & Savannah Islam, Burnsville def. Ellie Haas & Brooklyn Keller, Hastings, 6-3 , 7-5 No. 3 – Ruby Rotty & Mikayla Schuster, Hastings def. Avery Krumwiede & Bella Islam, Burnsville, 6-2 , 1-6 , 10-8 The invite on Friday was postponed to Saturday due to weather and the weather did not help the start of the Invitational. With the courts still not finished at the High School, the day moved to Roadside Park. The surface at Roadside is in OK shape. Its OK when there is no rain, but when there is a soaking rain the night before, the cracks hold water as do some of the spots where the surface is peeling.

With the move, parents and coaches jumped into action to get the surface as dry and clean as possible. Leaf blowers, brooms, and rollers were used, and the event was underway. With the invite being a JV scrimmage, there were no official results other than the smiles on the faces of the ladies playing.

At 1-1, the Raider girls host Rochester Century Tuesday, August 31, then they have seven days free from competition, then enter another meat grinder of four days of matches in a row. They travel to Eastview on Wednesday, September 8, then Two Rivers High School (formerly Henry Sibley) on Thursday, Rosemount comes to Hastings on Friday, then they spend all Saturday at Park of Cottage Grove.

Senior Kira Lindstrom serves to her opponent to start the Hastings Invitational. The athletes were having a great time on the courts, even with the small weather delay. Photo by Bruce Karnick