COMO PARK 4, JOHNSON 3
Scrambled Eggs. Log Jam. That describes the St. Paul City Conference race and also the fight for the #1 singles spot. For the second time this week the Como Park Cougars knocked off a perennial favorite in the SPC. This time it was Johnson 4-3. Monday, they knocked off the Knights of Harding. As a result, the Governors, Knights and Cougars all have a single loss in conference. Highland Park is right behind with two losses.
Today host Como Park took the top three singles and first doubles to earn the victory. Two of those wins went to three sets. Third singles went to extra points in that third set.
Johnson had a tight turnaround. The Governors, along with three other St. Paul schools, two of which played today, competed in the Edina Invitational and were an eyelash away from the team prize. The only champions from Tuesday that won on Wednesday were Shalisha Vang and Krystal Moua at second doubles.
Niko Solheid handed currently ranked #1 Su Meh her first loss of the season. Meh won the first singles portion of the Edina Invitational yesterday. It is doubtful that the 2025 singles champion will go through the season unscathed. More on that match below.
Gao Nou Vang, Johnson’s second singles winner from Tuesday, was also defeated in two sets by Niko’s sister, Tsuki. It was Oo Meh that delivered the fourth win and that in extra points on the third set. A flip of five points would have tipped the scales to the Governors 5-2. There were three extra point sets in the box today. Add in the two point 21-19s and Como came out ahead 3-2, with two of those going to winners. There were four contests that went three sets with an even split with two wins each.
Fatigue had to have been part of the equation. Como Park was off yesterday and probably had a stable sleeping pattern as the buses left Hornet land last night after 9:30. One way you can tell that fatigue was an issue is the point totals in the sets. Johnson faded in the second from .500 to .423 in singles, and from .594 to .470 in doubles.
No doubt the rest of the SPC race will be intense. Good for fans. Good for writers. Aspirin inducing for coaches.
SINGLES
1 Niko Solheid, CP def Su Meh 21-17, 21-17
2 Tsuki Solheid, CP def Gaonou Vang 23-21, 21-13
3 Oo Meh, CP def Sandy Moua 19-21, 21-15, 22-20
4 Amanda Her, J def Heh Blut Paw 21-17, 14-21, 21-14
DOUBLES
1 Asta Ket / Gaolee Yang, CP def Anastasia Vang / Kab Noog Yang 21-18, 19-21, 21-17
2 Shalisha Vang / Krystal Moua, J def Plar See Sher / Ann Se 21-12, 25-23
3 Aliya Vang / Kab Nag Yang, J def Lana Yang / Rose Yang 21-8, 10-21, 21-18
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Como Park 3-1 .750
Games: Como Park 6-3 .667
points: Como Park 200-180 .526
Set 1 points: Como Park 80-80 .500
Set 2 points: Como Park 84-59 .587
Set 3 points: Johnson 41-36 .533
decided by 10+: none
decided by 3-: Como Park 2-1 .667
margin: Como Park 2.00
DOUBLES
Matches: Johnson 2-1 .667
Games: Johnson 5-3 .625
points: Johnson 154-143 .519
Set 1 points: Johnson 60-41 .594
Set 2 points: Como Park 63-56 .530
Set 3 points: Como Park 39-38 .507
decided by 10+: tied 1-1 .500
decided by 3-: Johnson 3-1 .750
margin: Johnson 1.375
FIRST SINGLES
Niko SOLHEID 2, Su MEH 0
(21-17, 21-17)
#9 ranked Niko Solheid surprised #1 Su Meh and helped to propel Como Park to their second win over a perennial St. Paul power on Wednesday. Solheid snapped Meh’s eight game winning streak that opened the season including five matches yesterday when winning the Edina Invitational. Meh’s margins slimmed down as Tuesday night wore on. Today they were four point deficits. Solheid dominated the side out ledger with fourteen stops and holding her Governor opponent to three runs while enjoying six. Winners were another substantial win for Solheid 30-13. In the first set she established the clear, with three of them on the two stroke, while in the second set the smash became favored with seven of her eleven including three on the two stroke with the 21st point an exclamation point. When players score on the two stroke to me it means that the serve was probably not as challenging. Every player has a tell, or favorite shot on those birds. For Meh she uses the soft drive on the two stroke. All four of her soft drives came on the two stroke.
In both sets Solheid trailed by as many as three points. In the first set Solheid led 10-7 gaining the first three point run of the match. After both players traded side outs, Meh got the bird back on one of her two stroke soft drives. That opened the gates for five more points, but all were on Solheid errors, the first three on the two stroke (14-11). Solheid quickly righted the ship with her own six points run initiated by a four stroke smash off a Meh back hand rally (17-15). Meh closed to a one point deficit, but Solheid finished off the first set with the final three points which included three strokes on a soft drive and smash.
Meh quickly jumped out to a 5-2 lead with the first run of the second set. Solheid tied it up at six with her first run on the second. Solheid moved into the lead on her second run and sandwiched a soft drive winner between two smashes. A missed serve killed her momentum and Meh squeezed out her last run of four to move in front 14-12. The final lead change came on another Solheid run which was on service nine. That proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back (18-15). In that second set Solheid sided out seven of ten times while getting at least one point off her own service seven of the ten chances.
With the win Nico Solheid evens her record to 3-3. Her wins, besides today’s, came against Miaoting Fang of Burnsville and Wah Chri Paw of Huimboldt. Nica Johnson of Highland, Lennon Folstad of Central and Gaozhia Vue of Harding have Ws.
| Category | SOLHEID | MEH |
| Side out | 14/20-.700 | 9/21-.429 |
| Longest side out string | 5 | 2 |
| 3+ Runs | 6 | 3 |
| Longest point string | 6 | 6 |
| SERVING | 42 | 34 |
| First serve | 1, 2 | None |
| First point | 2 | 1 |
| Service points | 22 | 14 |
| Serving % | 37/42-.881 | 33/34-.971 |
| Point generated off serve | .524 | .412 |
| POINTS | 42 | 34 |
| Points after 11 | 20 | 16 |
| Points after own errors | 11 | 5 |
| Winners after own errors | 9 | 4 |
| STROKES | 155 | 114 |
| Strokes per point | 3.690 | 3.353 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 14 | 7 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 15 | 18 |
| WINNERS | 30 | 13 |
| Aces | 1 | 0 |
| Blocks | 1 | 2 |
| Clears | 9 | 2 |
| Drives | 1 | 3 |
| Drops | 2 | 1 |
| Soft drives | 5 | 4 |
| Smashes | 11 | 1 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 15 | 11 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 8 | 7 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 15 | 2 |
| ERRORS | 21 | 12 |
| Deep | 6 | 1 |
| Net | 6 | 5 |
| Wide | 4 | 5 |
| Serve | 5 | 1 |
| Even stroke errors | 11 | 6 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 6 | 5 |
| Odd stroke errors | 10 | 6 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 14 | 2 |
| Right | 16 | 11 |
| Largest Lead | 4, 4 | 3, 3 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.429 | 1.083 |
| Margin | 4.00 | |
| Set Point % | 2/3-.667 | |
| Time | 17:37 |