After finishing the 2008 season undefeated along with the individual Class 2A state tennis championship, Minnetonka junior Aria Lambert was in a tough spot this fall. Anything less than a second straight undefeated season and state championship would have been viewed as a disappointment.
But the unflappable Lambert proved to be up to the task last week as she finished off a second straight perfect season when she polished off Rochester Century sophomore Kelsey Frechette in the state championship match on Friday, Oct. 30.
Lambert defeated Frechette in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to win her second straight title. In the process, she became the 17th girl in state history since 1974 to win back-to-back individual singles championships.
Lambert had a tough first round draw as she was forced to play the No. 2 ranked player in the state, Rochester Mayo's Emilie Renault.
Lambert disposed of Renault rather routinely with a straight set 6-2, 6-2 victory.
She then had little trouble with Mounds View's Melanie Yates or Elk River's Katie Jesperson.
Lambert defeated Yates 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and then took care of Jesperson 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinals.
Next year Lambert will have the opportunity to become just the eighth player in state history to win three straight individual state titles. It was done most recently by Edina's Whitney Taney who won titles in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Two players, St. Paul Academy's Gina Suh and Bloomington Jefferson's Anh Nguyen, each won five straight state championships.
Skippers take third
The Skippers played three competitive matches in the Class 2A state tournament and wound up taking third place for the second consecutive year.
The Skippers faced a tough quarterfinal match against Mounds View, but prevailed by a score of 4-3.
Head coach Dave Stearns shuffled his lineup and moved his No. 2 and No. 3 singles players, Jessa Richards and Heather Abzug, to the No. 1 doubles spot.
Richards and Abzug lost their match at No. 1 doubles, 3-6, 6-7, but the Skippers had enough depth to pull out the victory.
Lambert won her match easily, 6-1, 6-0 to give the Skippers an early point. Madison Rossebo and Claire Pfleiderer won key matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles to help the team's cause.
The Skippers needed only one point from their three doubles teams to move on to the semifinals and they got that point from their No. 3 doubles tandem of Maya MacGibbon and Sydney Baldwin.
MacGibbon and Baldwin defeated Kelsey Rice and Maggie Morris 6-3, 6-2.
The Skippers were faced with the daunting task of playing Edina in the semifinal round.
Despite losing the match 5-2, the Skippers had a chance to upset the Hornets, who have now won 13 straight state championships.
Lambert won her match over Meghana Vasireddy 6-2, 6-0, but the Hornets picked up easy victories at No. 2 and No. 3 singles to take a 2-1 lead.
The remaining four matches could have gone either way, and unfortunately for the Skippers they were only able to secure one more point.
MacGibbon and Baldwin were again victorious at No. 3 doubles with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Edina's Morgan Marinovich and Madeline Boyer.
Richards and Abzug were tough luck losers at No. 1 doubles, falling 6-7, 6-2, 2-6 to Edina's Katie Medlar and Sheri Hickey.
Pfleiderer also lost in three sets at No. 4 singles. After winning the first set 6-3, Pfleiderer lost the final two sets to Edina's Mollie Meldahl 3-6 and 0-6.
The Skippers defeated Cretin-Derham Hall 5-2 to capture the third place trophy.
Lambert, Emily Carver and Pfleiderer all won their respective singles matches. Richards and Abzug won at No. 1 doubles and Noelle Wagner and Paige Baldwin picked up a point at No. 2 doubles.
Sullivan wins Class A crown
Providence Academy sophomore Elena Sullivan captured the Class A singles title in a somewhat surprising development.
Sullivan was the second player from her section to qualify for the state tournament. Mounds Park Academy's Taylor Washington, who defeated Sullivan in the section tournament, was on the opposite side of the draw from Sullivan and lost in the semifinals.
Sullivan didn't lose a set in four state tournament matches. She defeated Roseau junior Abby Ness in the first round 6-4, 6-1.
She cruised past Martin County West senior Stephanie Biehn 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinals and then defeated Austin Pacelli junior Lisa Johnen 6-3, 6-4 in a competitive semifinal match.
In the state championship match she recorded a solid 6-2, 6-4 victory over Rochester Lourdes senior Courtney Rust.
