The Blair High School tennis team earned three victories Monday during the NSAA Class B State Championships in Lincoln.
The unseeded No. 2 doubles pairing of Leah Chance and Shelby Wolff may have earned the most noteworthy, upsetting 11th-seeded Gothenburg duo Alex Beveridge and Kinley McCoy. It was BHS' first-ever win against a seeded opponent at the state tourney.
Both Bears hooted and hollered after they'd left the court and found their head coach, David Christensen.
“We just beat the No. 11 team in the state,” Wolff said, noticeably amped as the Blair parents in attendance congratulated the duo.
Abi Lundberg, and the No. 1 doubles pairing of Ally Sullivan and Abby Leggott, won matches, too, before their eventual eliminations from medal contention. BHS was 3-4 altogether during its winningest state showing in program history.
Chance and Wolff came from behind to secure their win. The doubles team trailed the 11th-seeded Swedes each time the teams switched sides on the court — 3-2, 4-3, 5-4 and 6-5.
“I was just thinking, 'Trust in each other,'” said Chance, a Wayne State College softball recruit. “'Just keep on doing the fundamentals. Hit cross-court. Hit down on our slams and just play like we know how to play.'”
Wolff noted how the Bears had nothing to lose.
“We weren't expected to win, so we probably just tried to play loose,” she explained. “We didn't want our season to end right there, so we just tried to fight together as a team.”
Blair hit its serves against Gothenburg and ultimately overcame them, 8-6.
“I think they were getting pretty frustrated, but we kept our cool,” Chance said.
Wolff and she advanced in the No. 2 doubles bracket, but were ultimately eliminated by a Hastings team, 6-3 and 6-1.
An Omaha Duchesne team knocked off Sullivan and Leggott, too, but not before BHS' No. 1 doubles team won a thriller with Hastings St. Cecilia's Emma Cerny and Emma Schultes, 9-8(7-5).
“We thought it was very evenly-matched,” Leggott said. “It took us a little bit to get going, but we played good once we did.”
The tiebreaker came down to a Sullivan serve. Her first attempt prompted a redo when it missed its mark.
“It was just like, 'I just have to do it and then we can rally out the rest,'” the sophomore said of her second swing.
The serve made contact with the court between the appropriate lines and the Bluehawks couldn't handle it, though, giving the two Bears the win.
Lundberg's first-round victory against Cornerstone Christian's Erin Nordby was notable, too. It was just the third such win for BHS in No. 1 singles at state. The others belong to Tara Cowley and Caitlyn Haggstrom.
“I thought it was a pretty good first matchup,” Lundberg said of the 8-4 win. It set up a match with top-seeded Aubrey Phonephakdy of Elkhorn North.
“I just want to play hard,” Lundberg said. “Play my best.”
The senior fell 6-0, 6-1, ending her final Blair season 13-13 overall in singles play, according to nsaahome.org.
The Bears' No. 2 singles player — Fiene Bakker — finished her season 10-15 after an 8-5, first-round loss to 12th-seeded Grace Riha of Omaha Gross. The senior exchange student from the Netherlands relished her experience playing tennis at BHS.
“I enjoyed the sport so much,” she said. “I don't play it in my home country, so I'm very blessed to play here and I'm very grateful that I get to play with all of those people, who are very good.”
A field hockey player before arriving in Blair, Bakker said conditioning and hand-eye coordination helped her become a varsity player and state participant for the Bears.
“I'll, for sure, be continuing in tennis when I get home,” she said.
BHS finished the state tournament with six team points altogether, while Elkhorn North scored 56 to earn the Class B state title. Coach Christensen's Bears tied for 18th overall.
NSAA CLASS B STATE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Monday at Woods Tennis Center, Lincoln
Team standings: Elkhorn North 56 team points, Grand Island CC 36.25, McCook 31.25, Omaha Duchesne 29.75, Bennington 28.125, Omaha Skutt Catholic 27.75, Elkhorn 25.5, Hastings 20, Kearney Catholic 16, York 15, Ogallala 10.5, Alliance 10, Norris 8.125, Crete 8, Gothenburg 8, Ralston 8, Waverly 8, Adams Central 6, Blair 6, Hastings St. Cecilia 6, Lexington 6, Scottsbluff 6, Lincoln Northwest 4, Brownell-Talbot/Concordia 2, Omaha Gross 2.
Blair Results
No. 1 Singles: Abi Lundberg (13-13 overall) defeated Cornerstone Christian's Erin Nordby, 8-4; Lost to Elkhorn North's Aubrey Phonephakdy, 6-0, 6-1.
No. 2 Singles: Fiene Bakker (10-15) lost to Omaha Gross' Grace Riha, 8-5.
No. 1 Doubles: Ally Sullivan and Abby Leggott (8-19) defeated Hastings St. Cecilia's Emma Cerny and Emma Schultes, 9-8(7-5); Lost to Omaha Duchesne's Leila Ayoub and Sarah Schmaderer, 8-1.
No. 2 Doubles: Leah Chance and Shelby Wolff (10-15) defeated Gothenburg's Alex Beveridge and Kinley McCoy, 8-6; Lost to Hastings' Ruby Schardt and Bianca Truong, 6-3, 6-1.
