By Bruce Karnick

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The Hastings Raiders tennis team had two huge wins last week with the first one coming on Thursday at Two Rivers High School, formerly Henry Sibley. Hastings defeated the Warriors soundly, 7-0.

“The girls earned this one,” an excited head coach, Marissa Welch said. “It was a great effort in all positions and closer than some of the scores reflect! But after losing to three competitive teams by a match, this one felt really good for the girls.”

In singles play, Claire Keller won 6-0, 6-0. Charlotte Kranz lost the first set 4-6 but came back to win the match 6-3 and 10-5. Autumn Winkler won 6-3, 6-2 and Brooklyn Keller won 6-2, 6-0.

For doubles, Molly Moran and Reese Keller won 6-3, 7-5. Chloe Konrady and Ellie Haas won 6-4, 6-0. Ruby Rotty and Mikayla Schuster won 6-3, 6-3 and Brooke Jelley and Amber Keller won 6-2, 6-0.

After the match, Keller agreed to her first interview, of course her teammates had to pick on her a bit for it, but how did she play? “I felt I did well, on my serve, I was consistent on it, I had a few double faults, and I feel I needed to work on hitting the ball deeper, and moving my target set.”

She described her opponent as a hard hitter, “So, she would sometimes hit hard to certain areas, and I’d have to run and go lift it up to get the balls back. It’s coming hard, so I don’t have lots of time to recover back when I hit it back.”

Would Keller encourage a sixth or seventh grader to join? Yes. “I would tell them, that’s a great idea. Tennis is a fun sport. It’s fun being part of a team, your teammates are very supportive. And it’s just fun to play in general.”

Saturday, Hastings faced Convent of the Visitation and won that math-up 4-3 Singles: No. 1 – Claire Keller, Hastings High School def. Reese Foley, Convent of the Visitation School, 6-1 , 6-0 , -; No. 2 – Anna Tucci, Convent of the Visitation School def. Charlotte Kranz, Hastings High School, 6-4 , 6-2 , -; No. 3 – Brooklyn Keller, Hastings High School def. Sophia Rahn, Convent of the Visitation School, 7-6 , 1-6 , 10-7 ; No. 4 – Meryl Rosenberger, Convent of the Visitation School def. Ruby Rotty, Hastings High School, 6-4 , 6-0 , -; Doubles: No. 1 – Molly Moran, Hastings High School – Reese Keller, Hastings High School def. Mary Kate Commers, Convent of the Visitation School – Grace Keeley, Convent of the Visitation School, 6-2 , 6-1 , -; No. 2 – Autumn Winkler, Hastings High School – Chloe Konrady, Hastings High School def. Kausha Bursey, Convent of the Visitation School – Claudia Marvin, Convent of the Visitation School, 6-0 , 6-2 , -; No. 3 – Lily Callanan, Convent of the Visitation School – Julia Harms, Convent of the Visitation School def. Ellie Haas, Hastings High School – Brooke Jelley , Hastings High School, 6-7 , 6-2 , 11-9 ; Hastings has Tartan at home Thursday, September 16, at 3:30. Then they travel to Eagan for an invite Saturday at 9:00 a.m. Monday they travel to Roseville for a 3:30 contest and Tuesday they head to John Glen Junior high for a 3:30 match.

Chloe Konrady and Ellie Haas celebrate a good volley in their 6-4, 6-0 win at Two Rivers High School. Photo by Bruce Karnick