By Becky Walz,
Saturday’s match between the Decorah girls’ tennis team and Aplington-Parkersburg in team tournament action ranks as one of the top five matches that Larry Berland has watched in his 45 years of coaching.
With the Viking’s No. 1 player unable to play, everyone in the single’s lineup had to step up one level with Paige Lange stepping into the vacated No. 6 singles position.
Saturday’s match between the Decorah girls’ tennis team and Aplington-Parkersburg in team tournament action ranks as one of the top five matches that Larry Berland has watched in his 45 years of coaching.
With the Viking’s No. 1 player unable to play, everyone in the single’s lineup had to step up one level with Paige Lange stepping into the vacated No. 6 singles position.
“Every one of the girls can take credit for how they battled in their matches. We decided before the match began, if we can make them play doubles we can come out on top of the match. That thought proved to be very accurate,” said Coach Berland.
Mara Holland filled the No. 1 spot where both sets the score went back-and-forth. In the end, the A-P’s Kaitlin Cuvelier proved to be a bit stronger, winning 6-3 and 6-4.
“Kristi Kjome-Johnson was involved in a match that was a mirror image of the one that Mara was hooked up in. Kristi had been feeling ill for the last couple of days but somehow managed to find the energy to push Lily Hovenga of A-P left to right and inside and out. It was a fun match to watch and closer than the score indicates,” Coach Berland noted following the senior’s 6-4 and 6-3 loss.
Nadia Johnson found herself in an extremely tight match with Adria Meymeyer of Aplington-Parkersburg in the first set. With each player at 6-6 a tie-breaker was used to decide the winner of the set. Johnson pushed the score of the tiebreaker to 7-9 before her opponent came out on top, 7-6. They were unable to finish the second set.
With the comeback of the day was Evon Leitz singles, only to lose the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6. Trailing 0-5, Leitz fought her way back to force a tiebreaker at 6-6. Losing the tiebreaker but not her determination, Leitz shut out Libby Janssen in their second set 6-0. Playing a 10-point tiebreaker for the third set, the Viking completed her comeback with a 10-3 win.
Allison Pavlovec showcased her determination and her ability to put the ball where Alexis Hoogestrant was not as she won in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-1.
“Allison is awesome when it comes to giving her opponent a shot that her opponent does not see coming her way. Allison shows very little emotion but a lot of heart as she methodically picks her opponent’s game apart on the court,” noted Coach Berland.
Paige Lange was asked to step in and fill the vacated No. 6 spot for the Vikes spur of the moment.
“It took Paige a set to get her game into high gear but I could see her switching gears as the match pressed on. Paige played a solid second set to even the match score one apiece. Then the super tiebreaker to determine the match was won by Paige, 10-6,” said Coach Berland. “When Paige sets her mind to something, it becomes near impossible to deter her from finishing the job. Coming out of singles tied 3-3, the winning team would be determined by doubles. It was just what the girls had bargained for before they had even begun the singles.”
At No. 1 doubles, Holland and Annalise Skrade had played together all year well enough to be awarded the No. 4 seed at the state doubles tourney to be played next week. However, without Skrade in the line-up Pavlovec was called upon to fill in for her. Decorah won the first set in a nail biter, 6-4, the A-P team came back with a vengeance in the second set and won 6-2. That left the match to be decided with a 10-point super tiebreaker. It was Decorah’s turn to show the other team their full arsenal of shots. Throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the A-P team, Decorah rolled to a 10-2 tiebreaker victory and a match win.
With that win, the Vikings needed just one of the remaining two doubles to snare the region championship. But, as they would find out, snaring another victory was not going to be an easy task against Cuvelier and Hovenga. No. 2 doubles, Kjome-Johnson and Lange, found themselves down 0-5 before they captured a game in the first set. Losing the first set, 6-1, the duo took it upon themselves to make a match out of it. In a back and forth second set, it was anyone’s set until the A-P girls put together three glancing off the net shots in a row that were impossible to return. That turned the tide and allowed Courtnee Alberts and Ellie Etjen to escape with a 7-5 win.
That was when the real fun began. Each team is one win away from becoming the region champion and making it to state.
With everything is coming down to the outcome of three doubles. Decorah’s Leitz and Haley Gossman came out blazing in the first set and won convincingly, 6-3.
“Haley and Evon were everywhere on the court and hit the ball with authority. A-P decided to change tactics and both go back to the baseline,” added Coach Berland.
Without the player openings on the A-P side of the net that Decorah’s attacking style worked so against in the first set, A-P staged a comeback and won the second set 6-4. That win sets up another super tiebreaker for the match win, the region championship and a trip to the state tournament. Pressure was mounting on both teams causing them to step back a bit and play long rallies trying not to lose the point instead of finding a way to win the point. With the score of the tiebreaker tied at 5-5, Gossman and Leitz made a couple of sensational defensive plays that took away from A-P what they thought were sure points won. That seemed to break A-P’s spirit a bit while revving up Decorah’s will to win.
With A-P serving in the tiebreaker, 8-9, fans could have heard a pin drop as all eyes watched as Decorah finally secured the win after a long rally when one of the A-P players miss-hit the ball into the net for the 10-8 win.
“The Viking players went wild with screaming, jumping and hugging one another in victory. The ending, however, for the fans, left them checking their heart and breathing rates. It was too bad that one team had to lose because Aplington-Parkersburg has an excellent team and coaches that show great sportsmanship on the courts,” concluded Coach Berland.
Decorah played Waterloo Columbus Monday at Independence in the first round of the state team tournament.
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