Girls state tennis: Molly Driscoll the hero as Mahtomedi pulls quarterfinal upset

Mahtomedi’s fate in Tuesday’s Class 2A state quarterfinal bout in Bloomington fell on the shoulders of a freshman.

And Molly Driscoll delivered. With the Zephyrs knotted 3-3 with second-seeded St. Peter, Driscoll had to win at No. 4 singles to push Mahtomedi through to the semifinals.

After losing the first set, Driscoll won the second set in a tiebreaker before claiming the decisive set, 6-4.

Mahtomedi swept the three doubles matches, with wins from Brooke Berg and Ellie Driscoll (No. 1 doubles), Berkley Blaisdell and Lydia Bartness (No. 2) and Camille Myhre and Ava Rasmussen.

Berg and Ellie Driscoll were beat 6-0 in their first set before rallying to win the final two sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Mahtomedi will face Delano, another unseeded team, at 10 a.m. in Wednesday’s semifinals. Delano downed third-seeded Becker.

The winner of that match will reach the title bout at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Making its first state tournament appearance, fifth-seeded South St. Paul put a scare into No. 4 seeded Minneapolis Southwest before falling, 4-3.

The Packers got points from No. 3 singles player Mira Gross, at No. 4 singles from Audrey Schultz and at No. 1 doubles from Libby Meyer and Liberty Felton.

Unfortunately for South St. Paul, neither tiebreaker set at No. 2 or No. 3 doubles went the Packers’ way.

Minneapolis Southwest will play top-seeded Rock Ridge in Wednesday’s semifinals.

Class 3A

Fourth-seeded Mounds View swept the doubles matches to top Forest Lake, 4-3 in the Class 3A girls tennis team state quarterfinals Tuesday morning at Baseline Tennis Center.

The Mustangs’ three tandems — Sofia Kostinovski and Mikenna Peloquin (No. 1 doubles), Saina Makin and Julia Choi (No. 2) and Audrey Halverson and Nora Tilstra (No. 3) — combined to lose a total of just five games across the trio of two-set sweeps.

Still, the Mustangs had to win one singles match to advance. They got that victory from Sonam Bhaskar, who won at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-4.

Forest Lake’s Lucy Saari breezed to a win at No. 1 singles.

Mounds View will play top-seeded Rochester Mayo at 8 a.m. Wednesday in the semifinals after the Spartans downed Stillwater on Tuesday, 7-0.

Eagan fell 6-1 to second-seeded Edina, with the No. 1 doubles team of Amelia Johnson and Marin King recording the Wildcats’ sole point.

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