Our first match was against the Detroit Lakes Lakers.  The Otters took a clean sweep of this match, winning 7-0.  

The doubles matches and the top of the singles lineup were heavily dominated by the Otters' depth today, with no one dropping more than two games in their matches.  Our tight matches came at 3rd and 4th singles with senior Clara Stephan and freshman Ali Bredenberg taking on these tall tasks.  Clara ended up dropping a tough first set, but did not let that phase her or let the match get away from her at all.  She was able to rely on her veteran experience and stay the course mentally.  She started the second set tough and never looked back, winning this match 10-2 in the third set super tie-breaker.  Ali found herself in a very back and forth match.  Consistency was key here for her, and she was simply able to put more balls in play.  This was a great outing for Ali to just keep gaining this varsity experience one match at a time.  

Fergus Falls 5, Little Falls 2
Singles:
1. Isabella Abrahams (FF) defeated Claire Kimman (LF) 6-4, 3-6, 10-5.

2. Ruby Ellison (FF) defeated Jenna Athmann (LF) 6-1, 6-1.

3. Elise Ballon (LF) defeated Clara Stephan (FF) 6-1, 6-1.

4. Olivia Hitke (LF) defeated Ali Bredenberg (FF) 6-4, 6-1.

Doubles:
1. Hattie Fullhart/Ashtyn Lill (FF) defeated Hailey McDuffee/Alexis Nelson (LF) 6-0, 6-3.

2. Brooke Litke/Myla Ballon (LF) defeated Layla Zosel/Kaia Ness (FF) 6-1, 0-6, 10-7.

3. Carysn Lill/Dillyn Lill (FF) defeated Julia Lang/Natalie Graeve (LF) 6-4, 6-1.

Fergus Falls 7, Detroit Lakes 0
Singles:
1. Isabella Abrahams (FF) defeated Anna Askelson (DL) 6-1, 6-1.

2. Ruby Ellison (FF) defeated Isabelle Wolf (DL) 6-0, 6-1.

3. Clara Stephan (FF) defeated Allie Bolar (DL) 3-6, 6-2, 10-2.

4. Ali Bredenberg (FF) defeated Avery Klabunde (DL) 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles:
1. Hattie Fullhart/Ashtyn Lill (FF) defeated Claire Pazdernik/Audrey Hochgraber (DL) 6-0, 6-0.

2. Layla Zosel/Kaia Ness (FF) defeated Jaycie Sliper/Paige Lindberg (DL) 6-1, 6-2.

3. Carsyn Lill/Dillyn Lill (FF) defeated Abby Cummings/Sophie Wilke (DL) 6-1, 6-1.

Next up for the Otters was Little Falls.  Ruby Ellison highlighted her athleticism and variety of shot selection in a fairly easy 6-1, 6-1 win at 2nd singles.  Ruby's scores have been so lopsided thus far this season that it's hard to even realize what a huge role she's stepped into at 2nd singles for us.  She's just coming in, doing her job efficiently and generally quickly, getting the "W" and getting off the court.  She has really been doing a great job of playing offensive tennis and imposing herself and her game on her opponents. 

Hattie Fullhart and Ashtyn Lill continued their unbeaten streak so far this season with another routine 6-0, 6-3 win.  These two girls complement each other's style of play very well and they're already clicking as a new first doubles team.  We've got Hattie just owning her job at the net and Ashtyn trying to take most of the groundies, while also joining Hattie at the net when it works for them as well.  Two-up, or both players at the net, isn't real common in high school girls tennis, but this duo is taking advantage of their strengths and making it work for them.   

Dillyn Lill and Carsyn Lill also kept their unbeaten streak alive today as well.  They found themselves down 3-4 in the first set against Little Falls, but cleaned up their ground strokes, got some more depth on their lobs and forced a nice little comeback to earn the first set 6-4 before rolling 6-1 in the second set.  Today resulted in a couple more nice wins for these girls.  They're becoming more academic on the court and learning to make adjustments for themselves throughout games and matches as they're acclimating to varsity level play.   

With a very strong 3rd singles player for Little Falls earning that match over Clara and our second doubles team of Layla Zosel and Kaia Ness falling in a tight super tie-breaker, we needed one more point to earn the team win.  Ali was down a set and 0-4 when Isabella Abrahams entered a super tiebreaker to determine her match at first singles.  She began the breaker 0-2. During this tie-break, Bella kicked it into high gear.  She played aggressively and dictated her style of play, outlasting her opponent 10-5 in the end and earning FF that coveted 4th point to earn the team victory.  When it's all on the line, that is what you want... and our senior captain delivered.  This is what she's worked for.

Overall, today was simply a great day for Otter tennis.  We are winning the matches we should and really competing well.  

We also had some great winning matches on our JV courts today as well.  Maddie Lien and Kylie King earned an 8-7 victory over DL and showcased how to use the alleys in some stellar doubles play.  Julie Hajicek and Julianna Flugstad also earned a nice 8-5 victory over DL.  In play against LF, Annie Mayer/Siiri Smestad, Annie Proudfoot/Avary Bartholomay, and Lauren Fazio/Raquel Prody all earned very nice wins for the Otters.

Friday morning the Otters travel to Morris for an 8:30am dual with the Tigers before returning home to host the Moorhead Spuds at 4:30 Friday afternoon.