Oct. 18—- When there’s a will, there’s a way.
And, for the
, that will has catapulted it into the Class A state tournament.
The Dragons, who rank sixth in Class A, have earned the third seed and play unseeded Montevideo in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
It is Litchfield’s first appearance at state since the 2022 season. It finished third two years ago.
“Everyone’s pretty excited,” Dragons head coach Matt Draeger said. “They’re ready for the next step.”
Draeger spoke highly of his team’s ability to fight and compete for each other through a treacherous regular season schedule.
Litchfield has an 18-9 overall record through section play, according to TennisReporting.com. All nine of the Dragons losses either came at the hands of a Class AA team, a ranked Class A team or a Class A team receiving votes in the Minnesota Tennis Coaches Association poll.
The Dragons earned wins against Alexandria, Annandale, Delano, Hutchinson, Mound-Westonka and Willmar, all Class AA programs.
Litchfield also defeated a handful of top Class A schools: No. 3 Minnewaska, which the Dragons beat in the Section 6A championship and once in the regular season, No. 7 Pine City, No. 10 Osakis and Staples-Motley, which received votes.
“The amount of good teams that we’ve played, we’ve just had to find ways to win,” Draeger said. “That’s what we’re prepared for in the state tournament.”
Every individual has exceeded Draeger’s expectations for this season. Eight of his 10 lineup regulars have more than 20 wins.
Those totals come after a 2023 season where Litchfield had a 9-13 record.
“They’re a close-knit group and when they’re out there playing, they’re playing for their teammates,” Draeger said. “It’s a lot easier to play in pressure situations when you’re playing for someone else.
“They’re behind each other and they support each other.”
Isla Dille, who plays No. 1 singles for the Dragons, has been dominant in her sophomore season and fourth overall on varsity.
She makes her second appearance in the Class A singles tournament and third straight appearance in the Class A individual tournament, which begins at 8 a.m. Thursday at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center, after winning the Section 6A singles bracket.
Dille, one of six sophomores in Litchfield’s lineup, is the fourth seed in the Class A singles bracket and plays unseeded Vivian Mader of Waseca to open up play in the individual portion of the state meet on Thursday.
Also making strong contributions as sophomores for the Dragons are Emma Wuotila at No. 3 singles, Molly Patten at No. 1 doubles, Brynn Nagel and Tayah Damerow at No. 2 doubles and Emily Michels at No. 3 doubles.
The lone junior and freshman are Elly Woelfel at No. 3 doubles and Marcella Bruning at No. 4 singles.
There are two seniors, Emma Knudsen at No. 1 doubles and Maya Wuotila at No. 2 singles, and Draeger credited their senior leadership.
“They’ve all taken their turns and that is what makes this group special,” Draeger said. “I don’t think we were more talented than the teams we were playing, I thought we were out-competing them.
“We stayed the course and kept our minds right through adversity. That’s what this group will be remembered for.”
Knudsen and Patten compete in the Class A doubles tournament, which also begins at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center. They are the fifth seed and will match up against unseeded Tali Bellefy and Meg Santini of Holy Family in the opening round.
The duo lost to Minnewaska’s Megan Thorfinnson and Alia Randt in the Section 6A doubles final. With another crack at earning a state berth, the doubles pairing bounced back in the true second-place match against the Lakers’ Rachel Rankin and Avarie Uhde to advance to the state meet.
“Emma (Knudsen) just fights, battles and competes,” Draeger said of his wily senior. “She’s been really good for Molly in the sense of keeping her focused on the task at hand.
“I’m real proud of Emma (Knudsen). She just works. She out-works everyone else all the time, whether it’s at school, work or tennis. … This world needs a lot of people like here around.”
The belief within the group is apparent and its state run begins with the Thunder Hawks. If both the Dragons and second-seeded Crookston advance to the state semifinals, it will be a rematch from Sept. 21 when the Pirates won 4-3 against Litchfield. Crookston is ranked fourth in Class A.
“We feel real good,” Draeger said. “We’re so prepared for pressure situations.”
(1) Isla Dille, sophomore
(2) Maya Wuotila, senior
(3) Emma Wuotila, sophomore
(4) Marcella Bruning, freshman
(1) Molly Patten, sophomore; Emma Knudsen, senior
(2) Brynn Nagel, sophomore; Tayah Damerow, sophomore
(3) Elly Woelfel, junior; Emily Michels, sophomore
Tuesday
Q1: (1) Blake vs. Waseca, 8 a.m.
Q2: (4) Pine City vs. (5) Saint James, 10 a.m.
Q3: (2) Crookston vs. Providence Academy, noon
Q4: (3) Litchfield vs. Montevideo, 2 p.m.
CS1: Losers of Q1 and Q2, 4 p.m.
CSS2: Losers of Q3 and Q4, 6 p.m.
Wednesday
WS1: Winners of Q1 and Q2, 8 a.m.
WS2: Winners of Q3 and Q4, 10 a.m.
5th: Winners of CS1 and CS2, noon
3rd: Losers of WS1 and WS2, 2 p.m.
Championship: Winners of WS1 and WS2, 4 p.m.
