Oct. 23—MINNEAPOLIS — Rochester Mayo has pushed itself into its second straight Class 2A team tennis state final.
The Spartans, ranked and seeded No. 1 and the state’s defending champions, beat No. 4 seed Maple Grove 4-3 in Wednesday morning’s semifinals at the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center.
That was the closest dual that unbeaten Mayo has had this season.
The Spartans swept the four singles spots, winning 6-0, 6-0 at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 singles, and 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 singles.
In one surprise, the Mayo No. 1 doubles combination of Keely Ryder and Malea Diehn lost in three sets. Ryder/Diehn are the defending state doubles champions and will be attempting to repeat later this week.
Mayo takes a 23-0 record into the 4 p.m. championship dual where it will face No. 2 seed Edina.
Mayo beat Edina 6-1 in last year’s state final and has beaten the Hornets in both their meetings this year, 6-1 and 5-2.
Mayo 4, Maple Grove 3
Singles: Claire Loftus (Mayo) def. Summer Ode 6-0, 6-0; Aoife Loftus (Mayo) def. Livia Walseth 6-0, 6-0; Ana Medina (Mayo) def. Eva Langen 6-0, 6-0; Eliana Elder (Mayo) def. Aurora Bogdanowics 6-1, 6-0. Doubles: Maddie Larsen/Lexi Helmer-Jahnke (MG) def. Keely Ryder/Malea Diehn 6-7 (7-2), 6-2, 10-8; Char Bakke/Amelia Larsen (MG) def. Charlotte Colby/Diane Meunier 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 10-7; Peyton Weigelt/Addison Doherty (MG) def. Grace Pickering/Emily Loftus 6-3, 6-0.
