TARTAN 4, NORTH ST. PAUL 3
Host Tartan had their home opener in their new gymnasium, and they celebrated that with a win over District 622 rival North St. Paul 4-3. There were six courts, and over 30 Titans and about 60 Polars along with fans increasing the energy level in the gym.
The Titans took all singles, the Polars all doubles. The fourth and final point securing the win came at fourth singles with the Titans Chantee Hang stopping NSP’s Ava by a grand total of seven points across two sets. The singles matches were close throughout with four sets decided by three points or less. The closest match of the day came at first singles with Sebrina Xiong’s win over Mallory (more below).
Doubles had the only matches that went the three-set distance. Second and third doubles each saw Tartan take the first set for a potential 6-1 outcome. But the Polars battled back to take the next two sets in each.
SINGLES
- Sebrina Xiong, T def Mallory 21-19, 21-18
- Kalia Xiong, T def Summer 21-12, 21-19
- Naw Claw, T def Autym 22-20, 21-10
- Chantee Hang, T def Ava 21-18, 21-17
DOUBLES
- Jolena / Claire, NSP def Alyson Santiago / Noly Lor 21-9, 21-14
- Ashley / Pazjib, NSP def Abigail Yang / Gwendalyn Vang 17-21, 21-9, 21-15
- DeDe / Kat, NSP def Lavender Moua / Evylynn Yang 14-21, 21-12, 21-17
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Tartan 4-0 1.000
Games: Tartan 8-0 1.000
points: Tartan 169-133 .560
Set 1 points: Tartan 85-69 .552
Set 2 points: Tartan 84-64 .568
decided by 10+: Tartan 1-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Tartan 4-0 1.000
margin: Tartan 4.500
DOUBLES
Matches: North St. Paul 3-0 1.000
Games: North St. Paul 6-2 .750
points: North St. Paul 157-118 .571
Set 1 points: North St. Paul 52-51 .505
Set 2 points: North St. Paul 63-35 .643
Set 3 points: North St. Paul 42-32 .568
decided by 10+: tied 1-1 .500
decided by 3-: none
margin: North St. Paul 4.875
Sebrina XIONG 2, MALLORY 0
(21-19, 21-18)
Tartan’s Sebrina Xiong picked up her second straight win in two days with a tight match with North St. Paul’s Mallory. Xiong needed to rally in the second set to secure victory. She trailed 16-12, her deepest deficit, when she closed with a 9-2 kick. Xiong had seven smashes for winners on the day, but in the close she had four including the final two points, each coming on three strokes.
This match had an abundance of quick points. The two stroke rallies combined for 39 of the 82 points (47.5%). Five strokes or more only accounted for 13 (15%). Both players missed a combined 11 serves, Xiong gave away seven points on missed serves…but it did not prove to be fatal. Both players did not side out above 50%. Again Xiong was at 39%, lower than Mallory at 42%…but it was not fatal. Xiong came through on winners (29-13) and especially on odd stroke winners (13-6).
In the first set, Mallory had the first serve and it sailed wide for the first point for Xiong. Xiong had the first run with an Ace to cap at 4-1. Mallory tied it at five and then used her own run of three to go up 10-8. Xiong’s second run pushed her back in front 11-10. Her third run increased that lead to 19-15. Mallory’s second run closed the gap to 19-18. For some reason the players had a different accounting. I had the set tied at 20 after a five stroke Mallory clear. A two stroke soft drive to the right followed by a three stroke clear should have ended the set, but one more point was played.
The second set was a contrast. Mallory only provided two winners in that set. Xiong notched 15. Mallory had the first two points gift wrapped by Xiong on hitting errors into the net. Xiong got those two right back—both on winners. Mallory’s biggest lead came on a seven stroke clear (16-12). That set up the 9-2 close by Xiong.
| Category | XIONG | MALLORY |
| Side out | 9/23-.391 | 10/24-.417 |
| Longest side out string | 2 | 2 |
| 3+ Runs | 5 | 3 |
| Longest point string | 5 | 3(2x) |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 2 | 1 |
| First point | 1 | 2 |
| Service points | 21 | 16 |
| Serving % | 36/43-.837 | 35/39-.897 |
| Point generated off serve | .488 | .410 |
| POINTS | 44 | 38 |
| Points after 11 | 24 | 17 |
| Points after own errors | 14 | 9 |
| Winners after own errors | 11 | 3 |
| STROKES | 130 | 109 |
| Strokes per point | 2.955 | 2.868 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 6 | 7 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 20 | 19 |
| WINNERS | 14, 15-29 | 11, 2-13 |
| Aces | 2 | 2 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 7 | 3 |
| Drives | 2 | 1 |
| Drops | 7 | 1 |
| Soft drives | 4 | 4 |
| Smashes | 7 | 2 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 16 | 7 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 11 | 6 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 13 | 6 |
| ERRORS | 9, 16-25 | 9, 6-15 |
| Deep | 4 | 0 |
| Net | 8 | 5 |
| Wide | 6 | 6 |
| Serve | 7 | 4 |
| Even stroke errors | 10 | 7 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 5 | 3 |
| Odd stroke errors | 15 | 8 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 7, 5-12 | 7, 1-8 |
| Right | 7, 10-17 | 4, 1-5 |
| Largest Lead | 3, 3 | 2, 4 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.16 | .087 |
| Margin | 3.00 | |
| Set Point % | 2/2-1.000 | |
| Time | 16:55.91 |