2019 State Girls Tennis Summary
The Blake School, Edina defend team titles; Shen of The Blake School earns second consecutive Class A singles crown
Posted: Tuesday, July 14, 2020 - 11:25 AM
The Blake School of Minneapolis won the Class A team championship for the fifth consecutive season, and for the third straight year, the Edina Hornets won the Class AA title.
Arlina Shen of The Blake School was the only competitor to successfully a singles or doubles title. She earned her second consecutive championship in Class A singles.
Class A
The Blake School Bears earned their fifth consecutive Class A championship title, and 13th overall, with a 6-1 victory over Rochester Lourdes. Lourdes claimed third-place honors in 2018. Arlina Shen paced the Bears with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Clare Palen at No. 1 singles.
The Blake School opened tournament play with a 7-0 victory over Thief River Falls. In the semifinals, the Bears defeated Litchfield 7-0.
Litchfield rebounded to claim third-place honors after defeating Pequot Lakes 5-3. Minnewaska Area of Glenwood went home with the consolation hardware after posting a 4-3 victory over Blue Earth Area.
Arlina Shen of The Blake School claimed her second consecutive singles crown after defeating teammate Sonia Baig 6-2, 6-2. Baig placed third in the doubles tournament in 2018.
Clare Palen of Rochester Lourdes claimed third-place honors. Palen won the doubles championship with Natalie Allison in both 2017 and 2018. Jane Spaulding of Rochester Lourdes took the consolation title this year.
In the doubles event, Bella Suk and Allyson Jay of The Blake School claimed top honors. They defeated Elise Bierbaum and Avery Stilwell of Litchfield 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the title match. Suk placed third in doubles in 2018 while Jay was third in the singles tournament. The runner-up showing was the second consecutive for Stilwell. Bierbaum was fourth in the singles event last year.
The Blake School duo of Emily Melin and Caroline Cameron claimed third-place honors. The third-place showing was an improvement for the duo; they were the consolation champions in 2018. Elyse Palen and Ryann Witter of Rochester Lourdes earned the consolation title this year.
Class AA
The top-seeded Edina Hornets won their third consecutive and 34th overall championship after defeating Minnetonka for a second consecutive year. The Hornets won 7-0 in 2018 and 5-2 this year. The Skippers entered this year’s tournament as the No. 2 seed. Sara Bernet had the easiest victory for Edina; she defeated Ana Martinez 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
In the quarterfinals, Edina defeated Wayzata 7-0. The Hornets then beat Rochester Mayo 6-1 in the semifinals.
Mounds View bounced back to claim third place after beating Rochester Mayo 4-3. In the consolation championship, Elk River, which includes students from Zimmerman, defeated Woodbury 4-3. This was the second consecutive consolation win for the Elks.
Karin Young of Eastview of Apple Valley won her first singles crown after defeating the two-time defending champion, Nicole Copeland of Edina, 6-4, 6-1. Woodbury’s Delaney Schurhamer took the third-place hardware and Aili Hietala of Duluth East claimed consolation honors.
Sarah Shahbaz (pictured) and Annika Elvestrom of Minnetonka earned the Class AA doubles title.
Annika Elvestrom and Sarah Shahbaz of Minnetonka claimed the top spot in the doubles tournament. They beat Julia Baber and Paige Sargent of Rochester Century 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the final. Baber and Sargent placed fourth in 2018.
The Edina duo of Shaylynn Reger and Jessica Ip earned third-place honors. Paige Trondson and Molly Austin of Mounds View took the consolation title. Trondson placed second in the doubles tournament in 2018.