BURNSVILLE 4, JOHNSON 3
For the second time this week #1 Johnson lost 4-3 on the road. This time it was #4 Burnsville surprising the Governors. With Blaze winning today, the horse race for top team in the state will go down to the wire and probably be a photo finish. Depending on who is in the lineup, and that has been variable more so this year than any other year, any one of the top six teams in the state has a shot. The question is who will break the logjam?
Burnsville today adjusted their lineup. Jasmine Tran was peeled away from first doubles and inserted at third singles. Tran, and the third doubles team of Katie Murray and Natalie Portwood both won their matches in three sets. Both trailed after one. The final (fourth) win came at third doubles. But looking at that score it was not in doubt. Tran’s shift and win at third singles was the linchpin.
There are several matchups still to take place next week prior to the big city tournaments to be held next Wednesday and Thursday. There will be two more team polls out—one on Sunday, the other next Tuesday May 9 after all the matches are decided that day. The final individual singles/doubles poll will go out on Sunday, May 14 (Mother’s day). The gap between #1 and #6 is now razor thin.
SINGLES
1. Maddie Blackbourn, B def Sandy Vang 21-18, 21-16
2. Corinna Benson, B def Ashley Her 21-18, 21-12
3. Jasmine Tran, B def May Xiong 15-21, 21-15, 21-17
4. Ruth Thaw Gyi, J def Molly Murray 21-6, 21-16
DOUBLES
1. Birdy Xiong / Alexis Xiong, J def Kenzie / Sherlyn Rojas 21-8, 21-7
2. Faith Moua / Lena Nguyen, J def Leah Merid / Lisa Genis 21-18, 22-20
3. Katie Murray / Natalie Portwood, B def Stacy Xiong / Mu Sat Paw 17-21, 21-18, 21-5
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Burnsville 3-1 .750
Games: Burnsville 6-3 .667
points: Burnsville 163-159 .506
Set 1 points: Johnson 78-63 .553
Set 2 points: Burnsville 79-64 .552
Set 3 points: Burnsville 21-17 .553
decided by 10+: Johnson 1-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Burnsville 2-0 1.000
margin: Burnsville 0.444
DOUBLES
Matches: Johnson 2-1 .667
Games: Johnson 5-2 .714
points: Johnson
Set 1 points: Johnson 63-43 .594
Set 2 points: Johnson 61-48 .560
Set 3 points: Burnsville 21-5 .808
decided by 10+: Johnson 2-1 .667
decided by 3-: Johnson 2-1 .667
margin: Johnson 2.43
FIRST SINGLES
MADDIE BLACKBOURN 2, SANDY VANG 0 (21-18, 22-16)
Burnsville’s Maddie Blackbourn turned the tables on Sandy Vang in the second match up between the two. She lost the first time at Johnson in two with the first set going extra points. Today there was no extra points, except for the miscounting in the second set where I had Blackbourn for 22. The separator today was Blackbourn took Vang’s heat and best shots and was able to return them—a defensive mindset. Both players were almost even in winners (+1 for Blackbourn). Errors were another matter. Vang made more (+8), specifically serving errors. Seven to be precise. That was 16% of Blackbourn’s total points scored today. To be honest, both were plagued with errors at the service line in the first set. Blackbourn cleaned it up in the second set with zero. Neither player generated much off their serve, both under 50% with their point totals. That impacted the critical odd stroke winners which Blackbourn doubled up on Vang 8-4.
Vang jumped out to a 3-0 lead in set one. The rhythm of that set was back and forth early. Blackbourn got her first run to tie it at six. Then, after Vang missed a serve, tacked on three more for a 15-12 lead. She didn’t relinquish the lead after that. Of the final six points for Blackbourn in that set, five came on Vang errors. A four stroke smash ended the set.
Blackbourn’s side out game was strong to start the second set halting Vang seven straight times. Vang was able to get the first three side outs keeping the score tight. But on Blackbourn’s fourth service she came through with seven straight points capped off with two straight aces, one short. That put her in the driver’s seat at 12-4. Vang did have a late rally getting her only run in the second set on her tenth service trailing 19-10. A four stroke clear got her the bird and then she added four more. I had the match over at 21-15, but they continued on for two more points.
| Category | BLACKBOURN | VANG |
| Side out | 18/24-.750 | 14/24-.583 |
| Longest side out string | 7 | 3 |
| 3+ Runs | 3 | 2 |
| Longest point string | 8 | 5 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 1, 2 | |
| First point | 1, 2 | |
| First run | 2 | 1 |
| Service points | 19 | 10 |
| Serving % | 39/42-.929 | 28/35-.800 |
| Point generated off serve | .442 | .294 |
| POINTS | 43 | 34 |
| Points after 11 | 22 | 19 |
| Points after own errors | 11 | 11 |
| Winners after own errors | 6 | 8 |
| STROKES | 137 | 124 |
| Strokes per point | 3.186 | 2.441 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 11 (.256) | 9 (.265) |
| 2- rallies (%) | 21 (.488) | 14 (.412) |
| WINNERS | 19 (.442) | 18 (.529) |
| Aces | 2 | 1 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 4 | 5 |
| Drives | 1 | 2 |
| Drops | 2 | 2 |
| Soft drives | 3 | 3 |
| Smashes | 7 | 5 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 11 | 14 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 7 (.368) | 6 (.333) |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 8 (.421) | 4 (.222) |
| ERRORS | 16 | 24 |
| Deep | 0 | 4 |
| Net | 11 | 7 |
| Wide | 2 | 6 |
| Serve | 3 | 7 |
| Even stroke errors | 6 | 11 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 4 | 5 |
| Odd stroke errors | 10 | 13 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 10 | 9 |
| Right | 9 | 9 |
| Largest Lead | 4, 9 | 4, 1 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.188 | 0.750 |
| Margin | 4.50 | |
| Set Point % | 2/5-.400 | |
| Time | 17:00 |
FIRST DOUBLES
BIRDY XIONG/ALEXIS XIONG 2, SHERLYN ROJAS / KENZIE WRIGHT 0 (19-8, 21-7)
There is only one group that has not tasted defeat this year—that is Johnson’s first doubles team of Birdy Xiong and Alexis Xiong. Today was no exception. With Burnsville’s Jasmine Tran shifted over to third singles, Sheryln Rojas’s new partner was Kenzie Wright. The Governors, with their intact chemistry, rolled to 7-0 and 6-0 starts in both sets on their way to double digit victories. The Johnson pair combined for six runs, sided out a combined 11/14 times and only allowed one run. And they had superior numbers for winners 32-5. Birdy Xiong today led the way with 7 smashes in her favorite winner, while Alexis Xiong matched the 7 in soft drives.
If you notice the score I charted (off a recording) indicates the Governors ended the first set two points shy of victory.
| Category | B XIONG | A XIONG | ROJAS | WRIGHT |
| Score/service | 7/7 | 4/6 | 1/5 | 2/6 |
| Side out | 5/7 | 6/8 | 6/20 | 5/20 |
| 3+ Runs | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Longest point string | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| SERVING | ||||
| First serve | 1, 2 | |||
| First point | 1, 2 | |||
| First run | 1, 2 | |||
| Service points | 23 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| Serving % | /29 | /11 | /6 | /9 |
| Point generated off serve | .575 | .150 | .067 | .200 |
| POINTS | 40 | 15 | ||
| Points after 11 | 18 | 9 | ||
| STROKES | 62 | 63 | 47 | 51 |
| WINNERS | 16 | 16 | 3 | 2 |
| Aces | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Drives | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Drops | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Soft drives | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| Smashes | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ERRORS | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| Deep | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Net | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Wide | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Serve | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| W:E Ratio | 4.00 | 3.20 | 1.00 | 0.40 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||||
| Left | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Right | 11 | 8 | 2 | 2 |
| Largest Lead | 11, 14 | |||
| Margin | 12.50 | |||
| Set Point % | 2/2-1.000 | |||
| Time | 11:02 |