The final four are set and all top four seeds advanced. To tell the truth every top seed has won so far this postseason. #1 Edina topped Burnsville in a sweep followed by a 6-1 victory over #8 Roosevelt. #2 Harding broomed two opponents: Camden & Math & Science; #3 Johnson did likewise with Wayzata and Humboldt. The only tight action came at Como Park where the #4 Cougars stopped #5 Highland Park 4-3 with all singles in CP’s column; all doubles in the Scots. Earlier CP beat Community of Peace Academy 6-1 and HP dispatched Washington 5-2. I was at Como for the action. I zeroed in on first singles with CP’s Nico Solheid bouncing back from a quick exit in the St. Paul City Tournament last week with two two set wins. First off was COPA’s Jenny Lee who had one loss for the year. Solheid edged Lee 21-19 in the first set and gained momentum in the second to the tune of 21-15. Then it was the Nico/Nica battle. Nica Johnson of Highland Park had a similar fate, but 180 degrees different. Solheid won the first set 21-15 and then Johnson pushed Solheid to extra points in the second 23-21 before play ended. In that second set Solheid raced to a 7-0 start initiated with an ace (on a fan). That 7-0 lead was whittled down to two points, but late Solheid stretched it out to four and even had match point at 20-17 when Johnson battled back to tie the set at 20. Solheid had another opportunity for match point at 21-20. Johnson’s soft drive was smooth and a six stroke shot helped tie the set again at 21. A fifth match point was not wasted and a hitting error on the two stroke where the soft drive was not hard enough ended the night.
Tomorrow Edina will be looking for a four peat. They have beat all three of the other teams in the tournament 4-3. The semifinal battle between #2 Harding and #3 Johnson will be the rubber match in the season series with both squads holding one win. The action tomorrow promises to be intense.
FIRST SINGLES v COMMUNITY OF PEACE
Nico SOLHEID 2, Jenny LEE 0
(reported & recorded 21-19, 21-15)
Solheid led 14-10 but Lee mounted a six point run on service nine to go in front 16-14. Solheid regained the lead with two points at 19-18. Lee tied it at 19 with a four stroke clear. But down the stretch in Lee’s last four services she found the net instead of the other side of the court. That gave Solheid a set point opportunity and she took advantage of it thanks to a hitting error.
In the second set Solheid had four runs with leads after two services at 4-1, then 12-7 after six services and the back breaker 18-10 on a five point burst on service eight. How did it start? A missed serve by Lee.
Solheid won winners 20-17. She kept the bird away from Lee’s smash game with both players having four. Solheid had a plus five advantage on soft drives.
Mega rallies (lasting 10 strokes or more) went to Solheid 2-1. Postseason stroke counts with better opponents tend to go up. That was the case here. Solheid’s count went to 4.238.
| Category | SOLHEID | LEE |
| Side out | 15/22-.682 | 11/22-.500 |
| Longest side out string | 3 | 2 |
| 3+ Runs | 4 | 3 |
| Longest point string | 5 | 6 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 2 | 1 |
| First point | 1 | 2 |
| Service points | 20 | 13 |
| Serving % | 36/41-.878 | 32/35-.914 |
| Point generated off serve | .476 | .382 |
| POINTS | 42 | 34 |
| Points after 11 | 20 | 19 |
| Points after own errors | 10 | 10 |
| Winners after own errors | 4 | 6 |
| STROKES | 178 | 118 |
| Strokes per point | 4.238 | 3.471 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 13 | 8 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 14 | 15 |
| WINNERS | 20 | 17 |
| Aces | 1 | 0 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 2 | 3 |
| Drives | 3 | 5 |
| Drops | 2 | 2 |
| Soft drives | 8 | 3 |
| Smashes | 4 | 4 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 12 | 10 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 5 | 5 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 8 | 7 |
| ERRORS | 17 | 22 |
| Deep | 1 | 1 |
| Net | 7 | 11 |
| Wide | 4 | 7 |
| Serve | 5 | 3 |
| Even stroke errors | 7 | 13 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 4 | 5 |
| Odd stroke errors | 10 | 9 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 8 | 10 |
| Right | 12 | 7 |
| Largest Lead | 5, 8 | 2, 1 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.176 | 0.773 |
| Margin | 4.000 | |
| Set Point % | 2/4-.500 | |
| Time | 17:33 |
FIRST SINGLES v HIGHLAND PARK
Nico SOLHEID 2, Nica JOHNSON 0
(21-15, 23-21)
Both players were close in winners with Solheid edging Johnson 23-22. Johnson had a five point advantage on soft drives.
| Category | SOLHEID | JOHNSON |
| Side out | 13/22-.591 | 11/23-.478 |
| Longest side out string | 5 | 5 |
| 3+ Runs | 3 | 4 |
| Longest point string | 7 | 4 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 1, 2 | — |
| First point | 1, 2 | — |
| Service points | 22 | 14 |
| Serving % | 41/44-.932 | 32/36-.889 |
| Point generated off serve | .500 | .389 |
| POINTS | 44 | 36 |
| Points after 11 | 22 | 20 |
| Points after own errors | 9 | 10 |
| Winners after own errors | 4 | 5 |
| STROKES | 147 | 117 |
| Strokes per point | 3.341 | 3.250 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 10 | 10 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 19 | 15 |
| WINNERS | 23 | 22 |
| Aces | 2 | 2 |
| Blocks | 1 | 0 |
| Clears | 1 | 1 |
| Drives | 4 | 3 |
| Drops | 4 | 2 |
| Soft drives | 5 | 10 |
| Smashes | 6 | 4 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 13 | 13 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 6 | 8 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 10 | 9 |
| ERRORS | 14 | 20 |
| Deep | 1 | 2 |
| Net | 4 | 10 |
| Wide | 6 | 4 |
| Serve | 3 | 4 |
| Even stroke errors | 5 | 10 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 2 | 7 |
| Odd stroke errors | 9 | 10 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 10 | 12 |
| Right | 13 | 10 |
| Largest Lead | 6, 7 | 1, 0 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.643 | 1.100 |
| Margin | 4.000 | |
| Set Point % | 2/7-.286 | |
| Time | 17:02.19 |