The Raiders sent three individuals to the State Tennis Tournament at the Baseline Tennis Center at the University of Minnesota on Oct. 27. Claire Keller went for singles, and her sisters Reese and Brooklyn Keller went as the representatives for Hastings doubles.

It was an early morning for all involved with the first match starting at 8 a.m. Claire had a tough first match ahead of her as she faced off against the number-one ranked player, Kelsey Phillips from Minnetonka. Phillips is a strong, talented player with a hard serve. Phillips’ serves were frequently tickling 100 mph according to the radar at Baseline.

“She is the person I have played that hit the hardest ball,” said Claire. “I had to have good racket preparation to get it back real quick. I found I could return her ball really well.”

She did in fact do that. Most of the serves were returned by Claire and she did a great job of moving Phillips around the court, but Phillips simply overpowered her, winning 6-0, 6-0. Phillips overpowered every one of her opponents and ultimately won the state title.

One of the games in the first match, fans noticed that Phillips lost track of the score and Claire had won that game, but Phillips talked her out of it. The whole day was a learning experience for Claire.

“I learned to advocate for myself in situations. I learned that I can play right with her. I also learned that racket preparation is huge when you have to handle that power,” she added.

In the off season, Claire is going to get back to work, especially in the gym, to improve her strength for next year.

With the first-round loss, Claire moved to the consolation round where she won the next match, a first-round consolation win against Ana Medina of Rochester Mayo 6-2, 6-0. She then lost against Mari Meger of Mahtomedi 6-1, 6-1 where she was bumped from the tournament.

The twins, Reese and Brooklyn, played their first game at 10 a.m., a loss to Rochester Mayo 6-2, 6-1. The match had a lot of back and forth, but the precision shots from Mayo quickly shut down the Raiders and sent them to the consolation bracket. There, the girls fell to the team from St. Cloud Tech 6-1, 6-1.

These local players were in the top 16 of the state in their sport, and that’s not an easy accomplishment. Congratulations on a wonderful season.

Claire Keller had a tough draw at the state tennis tournament, going up against the number one player in the state. Keller’s opponent served around 99-100 mph each serve, something many players are not used to. Keller did well against her opponent’s serves but still fell 6-0 and 6-0 in the first round. Photo by Bruce Karnick