Both #1 seeds prevailed in the title match ups Thursday afternoon at Harding.
in singles Sunshine Vang of Highland Park closed out with a two set win over #2 seed Kanlaya Thao of Harding at Harding on Thursday afternoon. It took extra points and a late rally in the first set of the title match (more below), in the second set she broke free from a 13 all tie. In the semis Vang beat Britney Lao of Washington 10 & 14. On Wednesday things were sometimes cloudy for Sunshine. She opened with a three set win over Sea Lee of Harding and followed that with a two set win, both requiring extra points with Ashley Her of Johnson. Today was more of a return to normalcy.
Thao reached the final, but it took longer. She outlasted Sandy Vang of Johnson in three sets. Vang took the first set 21-19. Thao started the match spotting Vang the first five points. The second set was the most lopsided of the day with Thao notching two runs on service two and three to take a commanding 11-3 lead. In the third Vang led at the court switch 11-10. Thao led 9-5 but Vang bounced back with a pair of points followed by a run of five on her sixth service. But something would plague Vang: the dreaded missed serve. Six times in the final frame Vang missed a serve. Her first four services all ended in deep serves. I don’t know if it was adrenaline, or the rising heat in the gym with the increased crowd, but in a game ending 21-18 those points matter. The final point was also deep.
Thao led Sunshine Vang 18-13 when Sunshine mounted her rally. The side out was a five stroke hitting error. The next point was also a hitting error, but ten strokes. A five stroke drop and five stroke cross court drive closed the margin to 18-16. Thao was on the verge of victory after a five stroke cross court smash. This time it was her serve that was deep. That opened the door for four more points from Vang including a pair of clears as she held off set point four straight points. Now Vang had set point. Thao responded with a two stroke smash, her seventh smash of the set to tie it at 21. Thao sent a bird wide on five strokes to put Vang back at set point. Thao sent the bird deep on a two stroke to end the first set 23-21.
Thao bounced back with the first two runs of the second set on her first two services to lead 8-6. Vang also had a run in between those runs. Vang regained momentum and the lead with a run of four on her fourth service (11-9) including a block on point 10 which Thao tried to reach on a dive. Vang’s defensive game came up with three points on blocks and kept Thao quieter on the smash game with only three in the second frame. With the score tied at 13, Vang got her final run of three to pull ahead 16-13. All three points came on hitting errors. Vang squeezed out points on service seven and eight including a five stroke drop that was crucial to the win. Thao held off match point with a six stroke smash to the right. Vang ended the match with a two stroke clear to the left back corner.
Sunshine Vang is the third Scot to win a city singles title, the first since 2012 when Gao Lee won the title.
In the doubles contest #1 seed Birdy Xiong & Alexis Xiong of Johnson beat teammates Faith Moua & Lena Nguyen, the Johnson second doubles pair, for the doubles title. This is Birdy’s second straight doubles title. Last year her partner was Ashley Her. This marked the sixth time two Governors battled for the doubles title: the fourth time in the last five tournaments. The only other schools to have doubles pair up were Washington in 2016 and Central in 2008.
This is the eighth time the Governors have snagged the doubles title, and their fourth straight (no tournament in 2020). This is also the third time the Governors performed the hat trick of winning all three of the top spots. This is a hat trick in itself. The other years were 2019 and 2011.
Sooooo…..what are the chances that the St. Paul champions turns around and wins the state title? Going back to the records (from 2001) both singles and doubles have a success rate of 52.8% (11/21). Last year the runners-up in the city tournament turned the tables and won state a week later.
When was the last suburban winner in state singles? 2017 with Chusang Nhasang of Bloomington Kennedy; Minneapolis singles? 2005 with Bao Xiong of Edison. Doubles suburban? 2008 with Becca Wade & Larysa Euteneur of Eden Prairie. Minneapolis doubles? 1999 with Souki Sylaphet and Keo Kong Thornsauahn also from Minneapolis Edison.
SAINT PAUL CITY TOURNAMENT
SINGLES
SEMIFINALS
Sunshine Vang, Highland Park1 def Britney Lao, Washington1 21-10, 21-14
Kanlaya Thao, Harding1 def Sandy Vang, Johnson1 18-21, 21-8, 21-18
THIRD
Sandy Vang, Johnson1 def Britney Lao, Washington1 21-15, 21-13
CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunshine Vang, Highland Park1 def Kanlaya Thao, Harding1 23-21, 21-16
DOUBLES
SEMIFINALS
Alexis Xiong / Birdy Xiong, Johnson1 def Dao Sangwang / Stacy Xiong, Johnson3 21-6, 21-5
Faith Moua / Lena Nguyen, Johnson2 def Puja Gurung / La Joe Paw, Washington1 21-12, 19-21, 21-17
THIRD
Dao Sangwang / Stacy Xiong, Johnson3 def Puja Gurung / La Joe Paw, Washington1 22-20, 21-17
CHAMPIONSHIP
Alexis Xiong / Birdy Xiong, Johnson1 def Faith Moua / Lena Nguyen, Johnson2 21-18, 21-15
NUMBERS
SEMIFINAL
Kanlaya Thao, Harding vs Sandy Vang, Johnson
| Category | THAO | SANDY VANG |
| Side out | 19/30-.633 | 14/30-.467 |
| Longest side out string | 3 | 3 |
| 3+ Runs | 9 | 3 |
| Longest point string | 5 | 5 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 2, 3 | 1 |
| First point | 2, 3 | 1 |
| Service points | 32 | 19 |
| Serving % | /60 | /49 |
| Point generated off serve | .525 | .396 |
| POINTS | 61 | 48 |
| Points after 11 | 23 | 32 |
| Points after own errors | 12 | 15 |
| Winners after own errors | 3 | 9 |
| STROKES | 209 | 165 |
| Strokes per point | 3.426 | 3.438 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 15 | 14 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 31 | 20 |
| WINNERS | 22 | 26 |
| Aces | 0 | 1 |
| Blocks | 1 | 0 |
| Clears | 5 | 3 |
| Drives | 4 | 4 |
| Drops | 1 | 4 |
| Soft drives | 4 | 7 |
| Smashes | 7 | 7 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 10 | 17 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 7 | 12 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 12 | 9 |
| ERRORS | 22 | 39 |
| Deep | 6 | 15 |
| Net | 7 | 10 |
| Wide | 5 | 4 |
| Serve | 4 | 10 |
| Even stroke errors | 10 | 23 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 5 | 15 |
| Odd stroke errors | 12 | 16 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 14 | 14 |
| Right | 8 | 12 |
| Largest Lead | 1, 12, 4 | 5, 0, 2 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.000 | 0.667 |
| Margin | 4.333 | |
| Set Point % | 2/3-.667 | 1/2-.500 |
| Time | 30:56 |
CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunshine Vang v Thao
| Category | SUNSHINE V | THAO |
| Side out | 10/20-.500 | 8/21-.381 |
| Longest side out string | 3 | 2 |
| 3+ Runs | 6 | 4 |
| Longest point string | 5 | 4 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 1, 2 | |
| First point | 1, 2 | |
| Service points | 25 | 17 |
| Serving % | /45 | /36 |
| Point generated off serve | .556 | .459 |
| POINTS | 45 | 37 |
| Points after 11 | 24 | 17 |
| Points after own errors | 9 | 7 |
| Winners after own errors | 6 | 4 |
| STROKES | 159 | 147 |
| Strokes per point | 3.533 | 3.973 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 15 | 10 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 19 | 12 |
| WINNERS | 21 | 21 |
| Aces | 0 | 0 |
| Blocks | 3 | 0 |
| Clears | 7 | 3 |
| Drives | 3 | 0 |
| Drops | 4 | 5 |
| Soft drives | 1 | 3 |
| Smashes | 3 | 10 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 8 | 14 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 6 | 7 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 13 | 7 |
| ERRORS | 16 | 24 |
| Deep | 9 | 8 |
| Net | 2 | 5 |
| Wide | 5 | 6 |
| Serve | 0 | 5 |
| Even stroke errors | 10 | 11 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 5 | 6 |
| Odd stroke errors | 6 | 13 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 14 | 12 |
| Right | 7 | 9 |
| Largest Lead | 2, 5 | 4, 2 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.312 | 0.875 |
| Margin | 4.00 | |
| Set Point % | 2/4-.500 | 0/4-.000 |
| Time | 19:58 |
DOUBLES
It was a sweep of the top three spots for Johnson’s doubles teams and it was in order one-two-three. The first doubles pair of Birdy Xiong and Alexis Xiong rallied for a first set win over teammates and second doubles Faith Moua and Lena Nguyen, then ramped up their side out game in the second set holding the seconds scoreless on eight straight service attempts.
In set one second doubles led 16-12 before first doubles got their first run of the match. That closed the margin to 16-15. But right before that on seconds eighth service they duplicated servers. Faith Moua served on seven and then on eight. Neither time did they score, but service eight ended up in the net. Seconds still led 19-17 when Birdy Xiong delivered a six stroke smash to the left side for the side out. She then went to the service line and did not give the bird back. She started off with an ace on the deep right back line. After a hitting error, Alexis Xiong blocked a smash attempt by Faith Moua for the final point.
Seconds generated the first run of the second set too to inch forward 8-7. Once again Faith Moua duplicated service at six and seven. Again they did not score. This was the start of the eight service lockdown. There was a do over when the score was tied at 14. It appeared Moua had an ace, but time was previously called because a stray bird found the right side of the first court. On the do over a hitting error kept the lockdown in place. Directly after that first got their only run of the set with Alexis Xiong serving three more points (18-14). The final two points in that run were winners, a five stroke soft drive by Alexis followed by a five stroke smash by Birdy. Seconds held off match point one time. A nine stroke error secured the title for first.
| Category | BIRDY | ALEXIS | MOUA | NGUYEN |
| Side out when receiving | 7/11-.636 | 11/18-.611 | 8/20-.400 | 12/19-.632 |
| 3+ Runs | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Longest point string | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| SERVING | ||||
| First serve | 1, 2 | |||
| Scoring on service | 7/13-.538 | 5/11-.455 | 3/13-.231 | 4/10-.400 |
| Service points | 12 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
| Serving % | 24/24-1.000 | 15/18-.833 | 13/17-.765 | 17/18-.944 |
| Pt generated off serve | .286 | .167 | .114 | .229 |
| STROKES | 95 | 106 | 93 | 93 |
| WINNERS | 9 | 7 | 12 | 1 |
| Aces | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blocks | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Drives | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Drops | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Soft drives | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Smashes | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| SET UP POINTS | 7 | 13 | 9 | 10 |
| ERRORS | 5 | 16 | 16 | 9 |
| Deep | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Net | 5 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Wide | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Serve | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||||
| Left | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| Right | 6 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.800 | 0.438 | 0.750 | .100 |
| TEAM | JOHNSON1 | JOHNSON2 | ||
| POINTS | 42 | 35 | ||
| Points after 11 | 24 | 13 | ||
| First points | 1, 2 | |||
| First run | 1, 2 | |||
| Longest side out string | 8 | 5 | ||
| Strokes per point | 4.667 | 5.114 | ||
| 5+ rallies | 20 | 18 | ||
| 2- rallies | 12 | 6 | ||
| Largest Lead | 3, 5 | 4, 1 | ||
| Margin | 3.500 | |||
| Set Point % | 2/3-.667 | |||
| Time | 15:20 |