Natalie Kinkel was hoping to win at least one set in her state debut at the state Class A girls tennis tournament.
The Park Rapids junior surpassed that goal by winning a match at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
Kinkel made her state debut with a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Trinity School at River Ridge junior Katie Mulvey during Thursday morning's first round of singles play. Mulvey entered the state tournament as the No. 3 seed.
In Thursday afternoon's consolation round, Kinkel stayed alive by rallying for a 6-7 (0-7), 7-5, 10-4 victory over Maple River sophomore Vanessa Barkosky.
Kinkel had her season end with a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Litchfield freshman Elise Bierbaum during Friday morning's consolation round. Bierbaum went on to defeat Roseau's Jodi Ostroski 6-3, 6-3 in Friday's consolation championship match.
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Ostroski, who defeated Kinkel in the Section 8A championship match, opened with a 6-4, 6-0 loss to St. James junior Renata Hernandez before defeating Eveleth-Gilbert seventh grader Lydia Delich 6-3, 6-1 and Osakis freshman Tia Dykema 6-1, 7-5 to reach the consolation title match.
Blake senior Lainey Axell, the No. 1 seed, defeated Blake sophomore Arlina Shen, the No. 2 seed, 6-1, 6-2 in the championship match. Mulvey defeated Holy Family Catholic freshman Ally Agerland, the No. 5 seed, 6-3, 6-1 for third place.
Kinkel capped off her season with a 25-12 overall record.
In doubles, Crookston's Ally Tiedemann and Amy Follette opened with a 7-5, 6-4 win over LeSueur-Henderson's Acy Adamzak and Greta Nesbill before being eliminated by Rochester Lourdes' Clare Palen and Natalie Allison 6-1, 6-0. Palen and Allison, the No. 2 seed, defeated Audrey Delich and Madilyn Jankila of Eveleth-Gilbert, the No. 4 seed, 6-3, 7-5 in the championship match.
Roseau's Kate Wensloff and Lauren Johnson defeated United South Central's Emma Barnd and Carly Weber 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) in the first round before falling to the No. 1 seed, Abbie Nelson and Sophie Skallerud of Blake, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Tiedemann and Follette defeated Wensloff and Johnson in the Section 8A title match.
In the team competition, Blake defeated Holy Family Catholic 7-0 in the title match. Roseau dropped both matches, losing 5-2 to Rochester Lourdes and 7-0 to Litchfield.
