Oct. 15—BLOOMINGTON — Talk about perseverance.
It’s the reason that Mayo’s Aoife Loftus is headed to the Class 2A individual girls tennis state tournament in singles for the second straight year.
No. 2-ranked Loftus, a sophomore and the younger sister of No. 1-ranked and defending state champion Claire Loftus, looked like she was going to be left behind this time. But she wouldn’t allow it to happen.
Taking on Lakeville North’s No. 6-ranked Keira Kelly in the semifinals of the Section 1, Class 2A tournament at Lifetime Fitness, Aoife had dropped the first set 6-2 and trailed 5-3 in the second one.
The Mayo sophomore wasn’t going to be denied. She battled to take the second set 7-5, then clinched the win, claiming the third set 6-4.
By the time the match was done, Aoife and Kelly had spent 3 1/2 hours battling each other.
“In that moment (while trialing) 5-3, I was just really focused and knew that in a full third set that I could win if I gave it my all,” Aoife said. “But in the end, it was a bit of a journey to pull it out. What I started to do better, I was just playing a lot smarter. I had been going for too much and realized that instead I needed to grind points out and wait for the right ball (to hit a winner). It might take three balls and it might take 20, but I just had to wait for the right opportunity.”
Mayo coach Jeff Demaray said it was a special match.
“Credit Aoife for coming back,” he said. “She played her best tennis halfway through the second set. It was a classic.”
The win sent Aoife to the section final where for the second straight year she faced her sister, senior Claire. And for the second straight year, the defending state champion walked away a straight-sets winner, this time 6-1, 6-1 against a spent Aoife.
But Aoife made one thing clear. Claire’s winning had little to do with Aoife having just played a marathon match.
Instead, it had to do with Claire’s skill and knowledge.
“Claire is a really good player and has a lot of different balls that she can hit, such as great drop shots,” Aoife said. “It makes things really challenging. Plus, she knows my game really well. We play against each other in practice every day and she definitely knows my weaknesses, how I like to hit the ball and what to stay away from against me.”
Both sisters are headed to state, as the top two from each section in singles and doubles advance.
Claire is eager to begin defense of her singles title. She also can’t wait for Mayo to attempt to defend its team championship. The latter is Oct. 21-22, and the individual meet Oct. 23-24, both at the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center.
“That is always a week that I look forward to, spending time with our team and having people from our school come to support us,” said Claire, who will bring an unbeaten record to state. No. 1 ranked Mayo is also unbeaten as a team.
Demaray believes there’s four players with a shot to win the state singles title — the Loftus sisters, Eagan’s Cassandra Li and Elk River’s Ava Nelson. Claire and Nelson are both seniors, Li a junior and Aoife a sophomore.
Claire beat Li in straight sets last year in the championship.
Mayo’s doubles team of Keely Ryder and Malea Diehn will also head to state looking to defend their state crown.
Ryder (senior) and Diehn (sophomore) made easy work of it in Tuesday’s section semifinals and final. They beat Century’s Elma Zhang and Riah Shah 6-0, 6-0 in the semis, then Mayo teammates Ana Medina and Charlotte Colby 6-0, 6-2 in the final.
Ryder is a terrific doubles player and Diehn is ranked as the seventh best player in the state.
“We didn’t play our best tennis today, but it was enough to get it done,” said Diehn, who wasn’t happy with her serve in the title match. “As a duo, we were both good at the net today, finishing a lot of points from there.”
Demaray came away impressed by what Medina and Colby did in the semifinals, beating a strong Lakeville South team 6-4, 6-1.
Medina and Colby advanced to state with their second-place finish.
SINGLES
Semifinals: Claire Loftus (Mayo) def. Zoe Zhang (Century) 6-1, 6-0; Aoife Loftus (Mayo) def. Keira Kelly (Lakeville North) 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. Final: C. Loftus def. A. Loftus 6-1, 6-1. Third place: Kelly def. Zhang 6-1, 6-1.
DOUBLES
Semifinals: Malea Diehn/Keely Ryder (Mayo) def. Elma Zhang/Ria Shah (Century) 6-0, 6-0; Ana Medina/Charlotte Colby (Mayo) def. Madison Morse/Eva Welsch (Lakeville South) 6-4, 6-1. Final: Diehn/Ryder def. Medina/Colby 6-0, 6-2. Third place: Morse/Welsch def. Zhang/Shah 6-2, 6-4.
