Cardinals advance to state semifinals

MINNEAPOLIS - Staples-Motley's No. 1 doubles team of Sara Dezell-Miranda Milless secured the decisive point as the Cardinals defeated Virginia 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Class 1A state team tennis tournament Wednesday at the Reed-Sweatt Center.

"It was a tight match that could have gone either way," Cardinals coach Kevin Coughlin said. "We prevailed with good, determined play. The girls had character."

Dezell-Milless beat Natalie Prittinen-Casey Mauston 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 to send the Cardinals into Thursday's semifinals against Mounds Park Academy. MPA was awarded a 4-3 victory against 10-time defending champion Rochester Lourdes, which actually won 5-2 but submitted an incorrect lineup and was forced to forfeit its victory.

S-M singles winners were Katie and Abby Edin, Skye Coughlin and Emma Koskiniemi.

"Skye came back from losing the first set to winning the second," Kevin Coughlin said. "Then she came back from 2-5 to win 7-5."

S-M's other doubles win was by the No. 3 team of Liz Willgohs-Caitlin Robinson.

Staples-Motley 6, Virginia 1

Singles

No. 1: Katie Edin, SM, def. Meg Hafdahl, 6-4, 6-1.

No. 2: Abby Edin, SM, def. Amanda Arbogast, 7-5, 6-0.

No. 3: Skye Coughlin, SM, def. Petra Hagberg, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 7-5.

No. 4: Emma Koskiniemi, SM, def. Hailey Slatten, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2.

Doubles

No. 1: Sara Dezell-Miranda Milless, SM, def. Natalie Prittinen-Casey Mauston, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2.

No. 2: Samantha Hendrickson-Alexis Gunderson, V, def. Julia Schock-Ashley Lisson, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

No. 3: Liz Willgohs-Caitlin Robinson, SM, def. Abby Lewis-Erika Skubic, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-4

Next: Staples-Motley vs. Mounds Park Academy at 8 a.m. Thursday in state semifinals at Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center, Minneapolis.