Oct. 8—ROCHESTER — This has been a different kind of season for the Mayo girls tennis team.
Expectations have never been higher. That’s the result of winning the Class 2A state team championship for the first time in school history last year and then bringing back all but three players from that team, including their top four performers.
The Spartans are the ones that everyone wants to beat, though nobody’s been able to do it. After winning their Section 1-2A semifinal match 7-0 over Owatonna on Tuesday at the Rochester Athletic Club, then beating Century by the same score in the championship, the Spartans are 22-0.
They are also headed to the state tournament for the 27th time in the last 28 years.
“We have that X on our back now,” Mayo coach Jeff Demaray said. “Last year, because we’d never won the state girls tournament, we had more of an underdog role even though we were ranked No. 1. The good news is that most of this year’s team witnessed the state championship last year. So they know what it’s like.”
Now that they’ve claimed it once and they recall the euphoria that went with it, they know how much they’d love to claim it again.
If anything, their desire to get it done has increased.
That’s made evident by how much Mayo has poured itself into this unbeaten season, on and off the court.
“I would say the thought of winning it this year is even more exciting than last season because now we know we are capable of doing it,” said Mayo senior No. 1 doubles player Keely Ryder, who says this team has never been closer. “Last year, it was definitely new and we weren’t expecting (the state title). It’s more exciting now because we know we can do it again. Last year, doing it was surreal. So many things had to go just right for us to do it.”
Like almost every varsity member of this 2024 team, Ryder spent the last 12 months taking her game up another level.
There were year-round tennis lessons and plenty of participation in USTA tournaments.
Some of that was strictly out of a love for the game and a desire to compete. Another chunk of it was so she and her teammates would successfully defend that state team title.
The Spartans seem well on their way to doing the latter. Not only are they unbeaten, but they’ve downed the No. 2 ranked team in the state, Edina, twice — 6-1 and then 5-2.
Demaray says his team has taken a major jump from where it was at the beginning of the season. He says that’s particularly true at No. 3 doubles, where Emily Loftus, Grace Pickering and Mia Zoghby have all played.
“I am so proud of these girls,” Demaray said. “They’ve stayed locked in and improved every day. We are playing our best tennis now. It’s just awesome to see their performance.”
Century coach Ben Maes also left the section tournament feeling good about his team. He wished it could have been closer against Mayo, but he felt great about the Panthers’ 4-3 semifinal win over Lakeville South, as well as his team’s future.
Century’s lineup is loaded with underclassmen.
“The fact that we made it to today’s final was way above expectations,” said Maes, who believes a true breakthrough season could happen in two years. “But this is a great learning experience for us in the finals because it shows how much work there is to go. In a couple of years, we could be dangerous.”
The state team tournament is Oct. 22-23 at the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center. The individual state tournament is Oct. 24-25 at Baseline.
SEMIFINALS
Mayo 7, Owatonna 0
Singles: Claire Loftus (M) def. Emma Herzog 6-0, 6-0; Aoife Loftus (M) def. Ellery Blacker 6-0, 6-0; Malea Diehn (M) def. Patty Joe Procopio 6-0, 6-0; Eliana Elder (M) def. Genevieve Froman 6-2, 6-2. Doubles: Keely Ryder/Ana Medina (M) def. Lauren Nelson/Hannah Nelson 6-0, 6-0; Charlotte Colby/Grace Pickering (M) def. Harper Shives/Greta Veldman 6-3, 6-0; Mia Zoghby/Emily Loftus (M) def. Haley McNett/Gabi Navarro 6-1, 6-3.
Century 4, Lakeville South 3
Singles: Zoe Zhang (C) def. Svea Mosser 6-2, 6-0; Ellie Chamberlin (LS) def. Jasmine Yu 6-2, 7-6; Catherine Li (C) def. Olivia Zimmerman 6-0, 6-0; Athena Homb (C) def. Allie Smeltzer 6-0, 6-4. Doubles: Eva Welsch/Madison Morse (LS) def. May Yu/Tea McEachern 6-0, 6-1; Haley Benson/Jenna Carlson (LS) def. Ria Shah/Rachel Zhang 7-6, 6-3; Elma Zhang/Vivian Zheng (C) def. Olivia Thor/Kendall Trabant 6-3, 7-5.
FINAL
Singles: C. Loftus (M) def. Zoe Zhang 6-0, 6-0; A. Loftus (M) def. Yu 6-0, 6-0; Diehn (M) def. Li 6-0-, 6-1; Elder (M) def. Home 6-0, 6-0. Doubles: Ryder/Medina (M) def. Rachel Zhang/McEachern 6-0, 6-0; Colby/Pickering (M) def. Shah/Elma Zhang 6-1, 6-2; Mia Zoghby/Emily Loftus (M) def. Averi Oliver/Emma Zhong 6-0, 6-1.
