HARDING 6, ROOSEVELT 1
The Twin City Championship started in 1978 and was almost the de facto state championship match until the “real” state tournament started in 1996.
Harding has made only three appearances in the TC title match, which is surprising given the team’s record. During the period when the Knights were winning their state titles, the TC Championship was on hiatus. In their two previous appearances, Harding lost to Southwest with a score of 7-0 in 1981 and to Henry (now Camden) with a score of 5-2 in 1986.
This year marks Roosevelt’s third time competing in the TC title match. In their previous two meetings, Roosevelt was shut out both times: first by Johnson in 2023, and then by Como Park last season.
An interesting detail in the history of the Twin City Championship is that Minneapolis leads the series against St. Paul with a record of 14-10. However, there are still three seasons for which the winner has yet to be discovered.
And today St. Paul won for the ninth straight time since the series resumed in 2016. The Teddies’ only victory today came at third singles with Lily Mitchell. All matches were decided in two with the singles proving to be more competitive than doubles with a margin score of 2.375 to 9.67. The top two singles went to the Knights, but in each case there was one set that was tight (more on first singles below). This was the first recorded loss for Roosevelt’s Sophia Mitchell this season. Her second set loss was the only set today to go to extra points.
SINGLES
1 Gao Zhia Vue, H def Mollie Anderson 21-18, 21-13
2 Paige Xiong, H def Sophia Mitchell 21-15, 24-22
3 Lily Mitchell, R def Alexzandria Lewis 21-13, 21-18
4 Ivory Xiong, H def Amelia Champe 21-14, 21-17
DOUBLES
1 Gray Mo / Cindy Yang, H def Abi / Ella 21-12, 21-15
2 Kelly Yang / Lydia Vang, H def Heidi / Julie 21-15, 21-8
3 Chiasi Chang / Taylor Lee, H def NJ / Miriam 21-8, 21-10
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: Harding 3-1 .750
Games: Harding 6-2 .750
points: Harding 160-141 .532
Set 1 points: Harding 76-68 .528
Set 2 points: Harding 84-73 .535
decided by 10+: none
decided by 3-: Harding 2-1 .667
margin: Harding 2.375
DOUBLES
Matches: Harding 3-0 1.000
Games: Harding 6-0 1.000
points: Harding 126-68 .649
Set 1 points: Harding 63-35 .643
Set 2 points: Harding 63-33 .656
decided by 10+: Harding 3-0 1.000
decided by 3-: none
margin: Harding 9.667
FIRST SINGLES
Gao Zhia VUE 2, Mollie ANDERSON 0
(reported & recorded 21-18, 21-13)
#1 ranked Gao Zhia Vue trailed by as many as five points in the opening set before rallying to beat back Roosevelt’s Molly Anderson in two sets. Vue trailed 13-8 in the opener, but her ability to score on serve highlighted by scoring three consecutive runs on her last three services in the first set gave her momentum into the second set. She pulled ahead 18-17 to take the lead for the first time since 3-2. Anderson got the side out with a six stroke soft drive to tie it but that would be her final point in that set. Vue regained the bird with a two stroke smash followed by a deep ace to the left and a five stroke clear to finish the set. Vue had a wide advantage with 17 winners in that set to nine for Anderson. But that 13-5 finish left no doubt.
In the second set Vue delivered a crushing 12-1 surge across two runs on her fifth and sixth service mixing both short and deep serves. Anderson had a series of fatal hitting errors, some of which were fractions on inches wide. Six straight hitting error points went to Vue on that last run to make it 16-7. Vue’s winners dropped to eight in the second set, still ahead of Anderson’s five.
This match was also notable for the lack of strokes. Only nine of the points involved five or more strokes. Fast action was the name of the game with Vue getting 23 of her 42 point in two strokes or less (54.76%). Vue dominated the service points 23-12 as well.
Both players will be facing more action in their respective city tournaments later this week. Both should be the number one seeds in their city.
| Category | VUE | ANDERSON |
| Side out | 11/19-.579 | 11/21-.524 |
| Longest side out string | 3 | 2 |
| 3+ Runs | 7 | 3 |
| Longest point string | 8 | 4 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 1, 2 | — |
| First point | — | 1, 2 |
| Service points | 23 | 12 |
| Serving % | 36/42-.857 | 27/31-.871 |
| Point generated off serve | .548 | .387 |
| POINTS | 42 | 31 |
| Points after 11 | 25 | 13 |
| Points after own errors | 14 | 7 |
| Winners after own errors | 9 | 3 |
| STROKES | 112 | 91 |
| Strokes per point | 2.667 | 2.935 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 5 | 4 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 23 | 13 |
| WINNERS | 25 | 14 |
| Aces | 4 | 0 |
| Blocks | 3 | 0 |
| Clears | 8 | 1 |
| Drives | 2 | 2 |
| Drops | 1 | 1 |
| Soft drives | 3 | 4 |
| Smashes | 4 | 6 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 12 | 9 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 8 | 3 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 13 | 5 |
| ERRORS | 17 | 17 |
| Deep | 3 | 1 |
| Net | 8 | 4 |
| Wide | 0 | 8 |
| Serve | 6 | 4 |
| Even stroke errors | 7 | 10 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 4 | 7 |
| Odd stroke errors | 10 | 7 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 12 | 5 |
| Right | 13 | 9 |
| Largest Lead | 3, 9 | 5, 2 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.471 | 0.824 |
| Margin | 4.500 | |
| Set Point % | 2/2-1.000 | |
| Time | 18:56.47 |