The first match for the Otters today was against the Park Rapids Panthers.  “We changed things up a bit from what we saw last weekend at the Park Rapids invitational by sliding Carlie Meis into the singles side of the action today and Elizabeth Houge into the doubles,” said Head Coach Jamie Lill.  “This switch made for some new doubles duos and adjusted singles positions.” 

The Otters won three matches pretty handily.  Ellie Colbeck dominated at first singles, only dropping one game each set.  Ava Weber also had a great showing at fourth singles, earning herself a nice 6-0, 6-3 victory, while the third doubles combo of Elizabeth Houge and Mia Marsh made rather routine work of their match winning in straight sets as well. 

Park Rapids came out on top in a back-and-forth first doubles matchup, eventually defeating Olivia Kaliher and Elissa Lee in three sets.  The second doubles team of Elizabeth Wickstrom and Mackenzie Krava dropped their match with just one break per set, falling 6-4, 6-4.  Leila Nasri found herself deep in a nail-biter for third singles.  Leila took the first set 6-4, before dropping the second set 7-5 and eventually falling in the third set super tiebreaker. 

“With her own match, as well as the team match on the line, Carlie Meis played some great defensive tennis,” said Coach Lill.  “Carlie's match lasted two hours, and in the heat, you could tell that both players were pretty gassed by the end.  Carlie was up a set when she found herself down a break in the second.  Carlie battled back and forced a tie-break for the second set.  In one of the longest breakers in recent memory, Carlie stayed the course and earned the win.  Carlie showed what she was made of our there today.  She battled and did what she needed to do to get the win.  Her play today shows why she is one of our captains... a combination of heart and guts on the court.”

After a break while PR and Morris dueled it out, the Otters took the court with the same lineup against Morris.  “We found ourselves in a similar scenario again towards the end of this match,” commented Lill.  “Ellie simply rolled through her match, and Ava earned a fairly routine win at fourth singles.”  This time the third doubles team of Elizabeth Houge and Mia Marsh had a lot closer match on their hands, but they finished it off in two tight sets winning 7-6(4), 6-4.  With second singles and first and second doubles falling, the team found themselves once again tied at 3 for the team match.  Leila Nasri took her turn as the player still on the court this time.  She took the first set in a tie-break 7-6(3) and earned the break in the second set to get the 6-3 set victory.  Leila's match sealed the win for the Otters.

“This was a big win for Leila and for our team today,” noted Lill. “Matches like the girls played today give a good gauge of what we're made of.  We still have plenty of things to work on, but it was great for our girls to get out and compete the way they did today.” 

The Otters look to battle it out against section 8AA rival Detroit Lakes in DL this Thursday at 4:00pm.