JOHNSON 5, HIGHLAND PARK 2
Defending state champion Johnson opened their season at home with a 5-2 victory over Highland Park. The Governors swept the doubles and took the first and fourth singles to put together their triumph. Singles proved to be where the tightest action took place. Three of the ten single sets were decided by two points. Two sets were by three. But it was the miscounting, not once, but twice that impacted the results. The error occurred at first singles twice. In set one, Yeng Lai Thao, according to my charts, won 22-19, one more point than was needed. But in the third set, the pair kept playing when the contest should have been wrapped up. I don’t know when the counting error took place but the two did switch sides correctly at 11-9 in favor of Thao. HaNeul Jeong McDonell had enough to win at 21-19. They kept playing. HJM added two more points. They kept playing. Thao finished the match with the last three points. In the books it was written at 22-20. On my charts (no lets/replays) the score was 22-23. Somehow HJM ‘lost’ three points in translation. This shows the importance of saying the score out loud (no masks were required); having the opponent repeat the score so it is cross referenced. With no individuals tracking each match, the players must keep the score at the top of their cognitive process. It is easy to get immersed in the action and drift from the score. This isn’t the first time a match has shifted because of this issue. It won’t be the last. But going forward I expect more concentration and vocalization will be heard throughout the gyms.
SINGLES
1. Yeng Lai Thao, J def HaNeul Jeong McDonell 21-19, 13-21, 22-20
2. Sunshine Vang, HP def Nicharee Lee 26-24, 21-15
3. Phlower Vang, HP def Sandy Vang 19-21, 21-15, 21-17
4. Victoria Yang, J def Sarah Shiferaw 21-18, 21-18
DOUBLES
1. Ashley Her / Birdy Xiong, J def Ella Alden-Pope/Satori Soulisak-Hoang 21-11, 21-6
2. Hope Moua/Faith Moua, J def Ellie Boudet / Katia Gercheva 21-13, 21-11
3. Vanessa Vang/ Alexis Xiong, J def Chor Yang/Tsheng Yang 24-22, 21-14
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Split 2-2 .500
Games: Johnson 6-4 .600
points: Johnson 198-196 .502
Set 1 points: Johnson 85-84 .503
Set 2 points: Highland Park 75-70 .517
Set 3 points: Johnson 43-37 .538
decided by 10+: none
decided by 3-: Johnson 4-2 .667
margin: Johnson 0.200
DOUBLES
Matches: Johnson 3-0 1.000
Games: Johnson 6-0 1.000
points: Johnson 129-77 .626
Set 1 points: Johnson 66-46 .589
Set 2 points: Johnson 63-31 .670
decided by 10+: Johnson 3-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Johnson 1-0 1..000
margin: Johnson 8.667
FIRST SINGLES
Yeng Lai THAO, Johnson 2; HaNeul JEONG-MC DONELL, Highland Park 0
(21*-19, 13-21, 22-20*)
Two players that expect to be playing deep in the state individual tournament met for the first of a possible four meetings in the opening day of the St. Paul City conference. The pair battled throughout with action ebbing and flowing back and forth. This had some of the hallmarks of an early season match. Errors that will more than likely be eliminated in May had an oversized impact today. Both players benefited from the other’s mishits. Winners were hard to come by. Side outs tended to be the rule. Looking at the big picture HJM led in several categories like side out string, point string, service points and winners. Her soft/fade drive from the back line was the top winner for either player with nine total. The errors tended to be deep or in the net. A combined 19 in each case for both combined. We have already touched on the miscalculation of the score. Here is an examination of each set.
1: HJM held sway early with the first run of three to make it 7-5. The winner count at that point was 4-2. Thao inched forward taking the lead at 12-11 on a seven stroke smash. That occurred amid a 6-2 sequence. Thao pushed the advantage to two. I had the set over at 21-18. They kept going. Both traded side outs after that to finish the set. Missed serves, including the final point, ruled this set with four for Thao, three for HJM.
2: Thao jumped out of the gate quickly with a 4-1 advantage (winners 2-1 at that point). HJM took command of the set with seven straight points to lead 11-7. By that time HJM had locked down Thao’s service game. HJM, after that run on Thao’s second service, then shut the door the nine times. HJM only had five errors in this set.
3: Again, Thao had the first run of the set to take a slim 4-3 lead. Thao kept the advantage on the switch after the eleventh point. HJM went in front 14-12 on a four point run. By this time fatigue, if not physically, but mentally, was starting to take its toll. All four of HJM’s points came on Thao errors. Thao had 16 errors in this set, HJM 13. HJM led 18-16 when three HJM put Thao up 19-18. By this time the score was out of whack. HJM scored the next five points with more than enough for the victory (23-19). Onward they played. After a two stroke drive to get the bird back, Thao benefited from two net errors on HJM.
| Category | THAO | JEONG-MC DONELL |
| Side out | 27/40-.675 | 26/39-.667 |
| Longest side out string | 4 | 10 |
| 3+ Runs | 5 | 4 |
| Longest point string | 4 | 7 |
| SERVING | ||
| Service points | 18 | 25 |
| Serving % | 49/56-.875 | 59/64-.922 |
| POINTS | 58 | 61 |
| Points after 11 | 29 | 32 |
| Points after own errors | 20 | 21 |
| STROKES | ||
| Strokes | 192 | 208 |
| Strokes per point | 3.368 | 3.302 |
| 5+ rallies | 13 | 14 |
| 2- rallies | 30 | 26 |
| WINNERS | 24 | 28 |
| Aces | 0 | 1 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 6 | 3 |
| Drives | 7 | 5 |
| Drops | 1 | 7 |
| Soft drives | 3 | 9 |
| Smashes | 7 | 3 |
| ERRORS | 35 | 33 |
| Deep | 10 | 9 |
| Net | 7 | 12 |
| Wide | 11 | 7 |
| Serve | 7 | 5 |
| W:E Ratio | 0.686 | .848 |
| Biggest Lead | 3 | 8 |
| Margin | -2.00 | |
| Set Point % | 2/3-.667 | 1/1-1.000 |
| Time | 25:51 |