WASHBURN 6, SOUTHWEST 1
Washburn dunked Southwest in a neighborhood rivalry game 6-1 to move to 2-0 in the Minneapolis Conference and keep the Lakers winless at 0-3. But if you look closely at the scores you will notice it was not a slam dunk. A shift of nine points would have given the Lakers the win at 4-3. The match was extremely close with nine sets decided by two points, three that went to extra points (two at first singles). Southwest took the first singles in three sets for their only point (more on that below). Second singles also went three sets, but it was Washburn gaining the win when Sam took the last two sets. All the scores in that set were identical 21-19s. Only two of the sixteen sets saw margins of ten points or larger.
Last year I also attended this match at Washburn. Both teams have healthier numbers this year and are fielding a full varsity lineup with no forfeits unlike last year (for both teams at times). This year the numbers for both are over 20.
SINGLES
1 Kaysa, SW def Lily 22-20, 9-21, 22-20
2 Sam, W def Olive 19-21, 21-19, 21-19
3 Georgia, W def Frances 21-19, 21-18
4 Willow, W def Ivy 21-13, 21-4
DOUBLES
1 Savana / Ximena, W def Layla / Addie 21-17, 21-14
2 Eloise / Harriet, W def Maya / Ophelia 21-19, 22-20
3 Lilith / Amelie, W def Anna / Greta 21-13, 21-19
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Washburn 3-1 .750
Games: Washburn 7-3 .700
points: Washburn 206-166 .554
Set 1 points: Washburn 81-75 .519
Set 2 points: Washburn 84-50 .627
Set 3 points: Washburn 41-41 .500
decided by 10+: Washburn 2-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Tied 3-3 .500
margin: Washburn 4.00
DOUBLES
Matches: Washburn 3-0 1.000
Games: Washburn 6-0 1.000
points: Washburn 127-102 .555
Set 1 points: Washburn 63-49 .563
Set 2 points: Washburn 64-53.547
decided by 10+: none
decided by 3-: Washburn 3-0 1.000
margin: Washburn 4.167
FIRST SINGLES
KAYSA 2, LILY 1
(reported 22-20, 9-21, 22-20 charted 22-20, 11-21, 23-22)
Kaysa provided the Lakers with their only win in a sandwich victory with two reported 22-20s around a steep decline in the second set of 21-9. The drama occurred in the final set when Kaysa almost saw a hard-earned victory slip away. She was up 20-16 when Lily held off match point four straight times before tying the game at 20. Included in that string was a set up for a smash, but that attempt sailed wide to make it 20-19. The Miller then pulled in front after a soft drive attempt failed to clear the net. Then it was Kaysa’s turn to hold off match point. A two-stroke drive did the trick followed by two hitting errors to clinch the victory.
Kaysa spotted Lily a 2-0 start in set one before establishing two runs on her second and third services to make the score 10-5. Lily followed that with two runs in her next two services to tie the game at 12. Lily regained the lead at 15-14 after a Kaysa spill in the back court going for a bird. The Laker quickly regained her form and moved forward to 17-15 with the last two points coming on three stroke drives. That lead bumped up to 20-17 when Lily had her first holding off of the set point. It started with a two stroke soft drive to make it 20-18 and then two more points it was knotted at 20. Kaysa got a four stroke soft drive to score and then finished the set with a five stroke drive to the right side.
It was all Lily at the start of the second set. She opened with a three stroke run and after a side out went on the longest run of the day with an additional nine points to hold a commanding 13-1 lead. Both players settled down after that trading side outs. After six services with no offensive points scored, Lily broke through and ended the set with a four stroke smash to even the sets at one each.
Lily actually outpointed Kaysa on the day 63-56. Kaysa had advantages in winners 38-31 with her drives ending up the most productive with 15 winners on the day. Soft drives also made double digits with 10. Lily favored the soft drive also with 11 and made double digits with ten smashes. This match was odd in that there were only two clears that landed as winners in the entire match. The back line was not tested often. Only one deep hitting error scored for the opponent. 33 errors out of the 50 ended up in the net.
Kaysa now moves to 2-1 on the year with her only loss to Roosevelt’s Sophia Mitchell. Lily falls to 1-1 on the year.
| Category | KAYSA | LILY |
| Side out | 13/29-.448 | 15/30-.500 |
| Longest side out string | 6 | 5 |
| 3+ Runs | 8 | 9 |
| Longest point string | 6 | 10 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 1, 2 | 3 |
| First point | 3 | 1, 2 |
| Service points | 31 | 35 |
| Serving % | 56/56-1.000 | 60/62-.968 |
| Point generated off serve | .554 | .548 |
| POINTS | 56 | 63 |
| Points after 11 | 33 | 34 |
| Points after own errors | 12 | 8 |
| Winners after own errors | 7 | 4 |
| STROKES | 227 | 322 |
| Strokes per point | 4.054 | 5.111 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 18 | 35 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 15 | 13 |
| WINNERS | 38 | 31 |
| Aces | 0 | 0 |
| Blocks | 0 | 1 |
| Clears | 2 | 0 |
| Drives | 15 | 3 |
| Drops | 5 | 6 |
| Soft drives | 10 | 11 |
| Smashes | 6 | 10 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 17 | 11 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 10 | 5 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 21 | 20 |
| ERRORS | 32 | 18 |
| Deep | 1 | 0 |
| Net | 21 | 12 |
| Wide | 10 | 4 |
| Serve | 0 | 2 |
| Even stroke errors | 18 | 13 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 6 | 6 |
| Odd stroke errors | 14 | 5 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 21 | 12 |
| Right | 17 | 19 |
| Largest Lead | 5, 0, 5 | 2, 12, 1 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.188 | 1.722 |
| Margin | 2.333 | |
| Set Point % | 2/8-.250 | ½-.500 |
| Time | 30:16 |