The decisive Her-Vue meeting came in the state singles championship, and Her finally broke their alternating pattern of wins. On Wednesday, she helped the Governors beat the Knights in the team semifinals with a three-set victory over Vue. On Thursday, she won in straight sets. After six matches, both players showed signs of fatigue, but Her still held the edge with more winners (28-20) and a stronger side-out game. She sided out on seven of her first 10 chances, a key factor in taking the first set. Vue, however, produced more scoring runs, 4-3.
Vue had the first run of the match, scoring three points on her third service turn to take a 5-4 lead. Her later moved ahead at 10-8, but Vue led 11-10 at the water break. Her then scored four straight points to go up 14-11. Vue responded with another run to tie the set at 16 after an ace/fan. Her closed the first set with the final three points, starting with a six-stroke drop. The last two points came on hitting errors, one after a soft drive and the other on a soft-drive attempt.
The second set was more dramatic, as the score indicates. Her led 11-10 at the water break and stretched the lead to 12-10 with an ace. Vue then scored enough points during services seven through nine to take an 18-16 lead, capped by a nine-stroke soft drive. Her answered with four straight points, including three drops, to move ahead 20-18. The first was a four-stroke drop to the right front corner that sent Her tumbling toward the sideline. The second was a seven-stroke drop that caught Her on the back line before landing in the same corner. Vue then hit a clear wide right, and Her again won a point to the right front corner with Vue in the back left. Vue saved one match point when Her hit a smash into the net, then tied the score at 20 when Her sent another smash wide right. A cross-court drive gave Her match point again, and the match ended on a five-stroke smash down the right sideline.
I was unable to record every point in the second set because I forgot to start the camera at the beginning. After the doubles match ended, I also moved that camera to this court.
I was able to chart four of the five matches between Her and Vue. The only one I missed was their first meeting at Harding, which took place while the girls’ basketball tournament was still going on.
Her finished the season 24-4. She became the seventh Governor to win a singles title, giving the program eight championships overall, with Olamide Fadahunsi accounting for two of them.
Vue finished second for the second straight year, making her the fourth consecutive Knight to place runner-up. She ended the season 25-5, with three of those losses coming against Her. It was also the first time since 2022 that the St. Paul City singles champion did not win the state title. Vue’s sister, Panyia, also finished second in the state tournament in 2014.
The season recap should be ready to roll out some point over the weekend.
Amanda HER 2 Gao Zhia VUE 0
(21-17, 22-20)
| Category | HER | VUE |
| Side out | 11/21-.524 | 6/23-.261 |
| Longest side out string | 2 | 1 |
| 3+ Runs | 3 | 4 |
| Longest point string | 5 | 3 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 1, 2 | — |
| First point | 1, 2 | — |
| Service points | 23 | 15 |
| Serving % | 43/44-.977 | 33/36-.917 |
| Point generated off serve | .534 | .405 |
| POINTS | 43 | 37 |
| Points after 11 | 22 | 16 |
| Points after own errors | 8 | 8 |
| Winners after own errors | 6 | 5 |
| STROKES | 182 | 144 |
| Strokes per point | 4.233 | 3.89 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 16 | 12 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 12 | 9 |
| WINNERS | 28 | 20 |
| Aces | 2 | 0 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 4 | 3 |
| Drives | 4 | 4 |
| Drops | 7 | 0 |
| Soft drives | 3 | 3 |
| Smashes | 8 | 10 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 9 | 12 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 4 | 4 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 19 | 8 |
| ERRORS | 14 | 15 |
| Deep | 5 | 1 |
| Net | 3 | 8 |
| Wide | 5 | 3 |
| Serve | 1 | 3 |
| Unknown | 1 | 2 |
| Even stroke errors | 5 | 7 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 3 | 3 |
| Odd stroke errors | 10 | 8 |
| Largest Lead | 4, 3 | 2, 1 |
| W:E Ratio | 2.000 | 1.333 |
| Margin | 3.00 | |
| Set Point % | 2/4-.500 | |
| Time | 22:15 |