Girls tennis: Litchfield Dragons move on at state

Oct. 21—MINNEAPOLIS — Singles play lifted the fourth-seeded Litchfield girls tennis team over fifth-seeded Pine City in the Class A state quarterfinals on Tuesday morning.

Litchfield swept the singles matches in its 6-1 victory against Pine City at InnerCity Tennis. The win marks the second consecutive season that Litchfield has advanced to the state semifinals.

It finished as the Class A state runner-up in 2024. Blake won 6-1 in the state championship.

Litchfield advances to play top-seeded Breck in the Class A state semifinals at 8 a.m. Wednesday back at InnerCity Tennis. Breck beat Thief River Falls 6-1.

“It feels great knowing that our team put in all this hard work — we earned it — and getting the win that we wanted feels amazing for our team,” Litchfield’s Emma Wuotila said. “We earned this together.”

Wuotila, a junior who has been a mainstay at No. 3 singles for a second straight year, kicked off the quarterfinal match with a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Alyssa Miller. She has a 26-6 record.

Litchfield later secured wins from juniors Molly Patten and Tayah Damerow, who have bolstered its singles play after playing Nos. 1 and 2 doubles in their sophomore seasons.

Patten, who has a 22-6 record in singles play, won 6-1, 6-4 over Alana Linnell. Damerow, who is 17-6 in singles matches, earned a 6-4, 6-1 win against Myra Roubinek.

Then, in a featured matchup between two of the state’s best, it was junior Isla Dille who capped off Litchfield’s singles sweep behind a 6-1, 6-3 victory against Brooke Boland. Dille, who is 28-0 in singles play, is ranked fourth among Class A individuals and Boland is ranked seventh.

“We had great mindsets,” Wuotila said of Litchfield’s singles contingent. “We all focused in.”

Litchfield got shortened wins from its Nos. 2 and 3 doubles teams after securing four points.

Sophomore Elise Carlson and junior Brynn Nagel earned a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (3) win over Brecklyn Nicoll and Lily Rootkie. Sophomore Kalie Ball and freshman Mya Iverson posted a 3-6, 6-0, 1-0 (4) victory against Kendall Steele and Mallory Clepper.

Now, Litchfield gets the remainder of Tuesday off before Wednesday morning’s semifinals play.

“The whole team is really close,” Patten said. “It’s just gonna be fun to be with my team.”