Girls Tennis Team State Championships, 2022

Minnetonka’s run of dominance during the girls tennis season reached a crescendo on Wednesday, Oct. 26 when the Skippers confirmed what followers proclaimed all along: They were indeed the best during the Fall of 2022.

The Skippers capped an undefeated, no-doubt-about-it season with a 6-1 victory over Rochester Mayo in the Class AA championship match of the Minnesota State High School League’s Girls Tennis State Tournament at the Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota campus. Junior Karina Elvestrom clinched the victory at No. 2 singles with a 6-4, 7-6 (9) win over Rochester Mayo eighth-grader Aoife Lofthus as the Skippers successfully defended their big-school crown.

Minnetonka also picked up a key point at No. 2 doubles when senior Maddie Prondzinski and senior Emilija Medziukaite outlasted Rochester Mayo’s senior duo of Taylor Hill and Ella Dozois at No. 2 doubles.

It is Minnetonka’s fourth state championship in girls tennis. The Skippers won the event in 1974 and 1975, the first two seasons of girls tennis, when it was played in a single-class enrollment format.

It was Rochester Mayo that gave the Skippers their toughest test this season, a match that Minnetonka recorded a 4-3 victory on Sept. 28.

Minnetonka advanced to the championship with a 7-0 victory over No. 4 Elk River in the semifinals earlier Wednesday. Rochester Mayo, the No. 3 seeded used a 5-2 victory over No. 2 Edina in the lower-bracket semifinal to forge a way to the title match.

Edina bounced back for a 5-2 win over Elk River for the third-place trophy.

Class A

A Rochester-based school will be returning with a state championship.

Rochester Lourdes avenged a loss from earlier this season with a thrilling 4-3 victory over top-seeded Breck in the Class A championship match at Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in south Minneapolis. The Eagles captured their first state championship since 2006 when the No. 1 doubles team of senior Ryan Wittier and junior Elizabeth Leise recorded a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Breck’s Petra Lyon, a senior, and junior Witt Mehbod. The duo’s victory snapped a 3-all tie in the team chase and provided the clinching point.

It was Breck’s first loss to a Class A team this season. Earlier this season, the Mustangs recorded a 5-2 victory over Rochester Lourdes on Sept. 24.

From 1997 through 2006, Rochester Lourdes won a string of 10 consecutive Class A championships.