HARDING 5, COMO PARK 2
Harding is in a neck and neck race with Johnson for the top spot in St. Paul. The Knights maintained that pace with a 5-2 victory at third place Como Park. Harding split the singles and swept the doubles in putting together their win. Included in the singles win was Gao Zhia Vue, who rallied to top Niko Solheid, the most recent #1 ranked singles player. That match lasted three sets as did first doubles. Singles proved to hold the tightest action with Como Park actually having a 1.111 margin lead. The doubles margin favored the Knights 5.778.
Harding is now 10-1 in St. Paul, 12-2 overall. Como Park is now 7-4 and 9-6.
SINGLES
1 Gao Zhia Vue, H def Niko Solheid 17-21, 21-17, 21-16
2 Tsuki Solheid, CP def Paige Xiong 21-18, 21-8
3 La Ku Shine, CP def Alexzandria Lewis 21-18, 21-11
4 Ivory Xiong, H def Sada 21-10, 21-18
DOUBLES
1 Cindy Yang / Gray Mo, H def Asta / Lana 21-14, 16-21, 21-10
2 Lydia Vang / Kelly Yang, H def Nally / Persephone 21-13, 21-5
3 Chiasi Chang / Taylor Lee, H def Emma / Churea 21-10, 21-17
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: tied 2-2
Games: Como Park 5-4 .556
points: 166-156 .516
Set 1 points: Harding 74-73 .503
Set 2 points: Como Park 77-61 .558
Set 3 points: Harding 21-16 .568
decided by 10+: Como Park 2-1 .667
decided by 3-: Como Park 2-1
margin: Como Park 1.111
DOUBLES
Matches: Harding 3-0 1.000
Games: Harding 6-0 1.000
points: Harding 142-90 .612
Set 1 points: Harding 63-37 .630
Set 2 points: Harding 85-43 .574
Set 3 points: Harding 21-10 .677
decided by 10+: Harding 3-0 1.000
decided by 3-: none
margin: Harding 5.778
FIRST SINGLES
Gao Zhia VUE 2, Niko SOLHEID 1
(reported 17-21, 21-17, 21-16)
Gao Zhia Vue trailed current #1 ranked Niko Solheid by as many as four points in the second set early (9-5) before finishing strong in that set. Solheid still led 16-15 but a 10 stroke drop to the left side tied it up and opened the gates. Vue took a 19-16 lead after scoring three straight points, her first advantage since 3-2 in this set. After the break at 11 Vue outscored Solheid in the second set 12-6. That surge of momentum carried over into the third set. Vue managed only three runs throughout the match, with one in each set, but the third set was particularly impressive and occurred early on. After missing the opening serve she got the bird back on a six-stroke smash. Then she didn’t let go for an extra nine points. All during this run Vue was utilizing the short serve. With a 10-1 lead banked, Solheid faced a stiff uphill battle. She managed to close the gap to 15-12 scoring on three straight services. But the side out game for both players evaporated as the match wore on. At the outset, both players were effectively limiting each other’s opportunities. Both players had nine side outs in the first set with 13 and 12 services between them. The side outs dwindled to three and four in the final frame, taking their numbers in that set to 37.5% and 44.4% respectively. True there were no runs, but scoring did take place.
Vue, who started the season ranked #1 in the state, led in winners 44-28; and she also won the all-important smash category 17-12. In set three she had eight of her 21 points via the power game. Vue had 25-15 even stroke winners and 12-6 two stroke winners. Vue also led in errors 25-15. But those numbers declined after the first set.
Will there be more battles between Vue and Solheid? There could be three more confrontations. The St. Paul Conference tournament awaits plus the state singles tournament as well. There could also be team matchups in the state tournament. Vue, currently ranked #2, has improved to an 11-2 record this season after securing a second win against Solheid. The Cougar falls to 13-3 on the year and will face #3 ranked Amanda Her of Johnson on Thursday.
| Category | VUE | SOLHEID |
| Side out | 21/33-.636 | 18/33-.545 |
| Longest side out string | 8 | 8 |
| 3+ Runs | 3 | 6 |
| Longest point string | 10 | 9 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 3 | 1, 2 |
| First point | 1 | 2, 3 |
| Service points | 27 | 22 |
| Serving % | 52/58-.897 | 52/54-.963 |
| Point generated off serve | .458 | .415 |
| POINTS | 59 | 53 |
| Points after 11 | 34 | 28 |
| Points after own errors | 10 | 5 |
| Winners after own errors | 7 | 1 |
| STROKES | 226 | 199 |
| Strokes per point | 3.831 | 3.755 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 18 | 18 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 21 | 14 |
| WINNERS | 44 | 28 |
| Aces | 1 | 0 |
| Blocks | 1 | 1 |
| Clears | 8 | 4 |
| Drives | 3 | 0 |
| Drops | 6 | 5 |
| Soft drives | 8 | 6 |
| Smashes | 17 | 12 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 25 | 15 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 12 | 6 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 19 | 13 |
| ERRORS | 25 | 15 |
| Deep | 5 | 0 |
| Net | 7 | 8 |
| Wide | 7 | 5 |
| Serve | 6 | 2 |
| Even stroke errors | 16 | 8 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 6 | 6 |
| Odd stroke errors | 9 | 7 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 20 | 12 |
| Right | 24 | 16 |
| Largest Lead | 1, 4, 9 | 6, 4, 1 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.760 | |
| Margin | 2.000 | |
| Set Point % | 2/2-1.000 | |
| Time | 27:22 |