Coming in as the No. 3 singles seed in the Section 3A girls’ tennis competition, Pipestone Area senior Katie Schelhaas was one of the favorites to be playing in the final four Tuesday morning at the Swanson Center on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.
Schelhaas won both of her early-round matches Thursday in Redwood Falls, which included knocking off Luverne’s Hannah Baartman (6-2, 0-6, 7-6 (7-5), who easily defeated Schelhaas in the final dual match of the season.
“It guess I didn’t realize on Thursday that Gustavus was the final four,” Schelhaas said. “So, I was pretty happy about that.”
Schelhaas had to face Aryn Eckstrom from perennial state contender Saint James to open play Tuesday morning. Schelhaas dropped a 1-6, 0-6, decision to Eckstrom, which put her in the third-place match against Lac qui Parle Valley’s Kelle Thompson.
Schelhaas controlled the tilt from the opening rally, earning points on her serve and letting Thompson make more than her share of mistakes.
“It was more of a defensive match for me,” Schelhaas said. “I tried to let her make the errors and tried to just hit the ball back. After a while, she’d just hit it wide or into the net.”
Schelhaas went on to defeat Thompson, 6-2, 6-3, to finish third in the section.
“I was really happy to finish my career third in the section,” Schelhaas said. “Gus told me that we haven’t had a player in the final four since 2003, so that was a big accomplishment.”
PAS head coach Ed Gustafson was very pleased with Schelhaas’ achievement and was proud of the way she played against Eckstrom in the semis.
“Katie really hung in there with her,” Gustafson said. “She was overpowered by any means and played a good match against a very good player.
“In the third-place match, Katie got off to a quick start, 3-0, but Thompson came back to make it a 3-2 set. Then Katei won the next three to take the set. The second set was similar; Katie lead early and then closed it out.”
While Schelhaas made it to the final four, the rest of the Arrows were knocked out after their first matches Thursday in Redwood Falls.
Kayla Quincey, the No. 20 seed in singles, bowed out to Worthington’s Kate Lesner, who played at No. 1 singles for the Trojans all season. Quincey fell, 1-6, in the opening set, but had more success in the second before losing, 4-6.
In doubles competition, the Arrows’ Heather Evans and Bobbie Steffen dropped a 2-6, 3-6, decision to Martin County West’s Megan Suter and Lindsey Treitline, while Laura Rudie and Ashley Griebel (PAS’ No. 1) lost a three-set heartbreaker, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, to MCW’s Shawna Dressen and KaLeigh Russenburger.
“I thought the girls had a very good season and, hopefully, we’ll have all but the senior girls back for a few seasons more,” Gustafson said.