CENTRAL 5, HIGHLAND PARK 2
#6 Central took down #7 Highland Park in a St. Paul city conference match. The host Minutemen swept the doubles and took the odd singles to put together their win. The only match that went the distance came at fourth singles with HP’s Elisa John using extra points in the final set to pull out the win. The #1 ranked doubles team Xiong Vang & Wamee Vang of Central moved to 10-2 on the year with a sweep of Nina & Susie. Their only two losses this season came at the Edina Invitational to Johnson’s Bao Nhia Thao and Nou Chee Yang. Last week the Vangs beat the Johnson pair in three sets.
With Central down I now have six teams left to see. I should be wrapped up by next Monday. Then it will be wide open.
SINGLES
1. May Garvey, C def PaJai Thao 21-11, 21-19
2. Lucia Calatayud, HP def Sarikha Yann 21-13, 21-14
3. Malee Yang, C def EE Lee 21-14, 21-16
4. Elisa John, HP def Annika Tuma 13-21, 21-18, 22-20
DOUBLES
1. Xiong Vang/Wamee Vang, C def Nina/Susie 21-10, 21-12
2. Jada Brown/Julia Schultz, C def Phoebe/Neng 21-9, 21-8
3. Claudia Feilmeyer/Nia Neng Xiong, C def Loren/Caitlyn 21-16, 21-19
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: split 2-2 .500
Games: Central 5-4 .556
points: Central 170-158 .518
decided by 10+: Central 1-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Highland Park 2-1 .667
margin: Central 1.333
DOUBLES
Matches: Central 3-0 1.000
Games: Central 6-0 1.000
points: Central 126-74 .630
decided by 10+: Central 3-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Central 1-0 1.000
margin: Central 8.667
FIRST SINGLES
may GARVEY 2, pajai THAO 0
(21-11, 21-19)
#3 ranked May Garvey moved to 6-3 on the year with a sweep of Pajai Thao. The only margin of ten or greater and the a margin of two gave a split representation of this match. Both players probably had a case of the Mondays due to the greater abundance of errors to winners. But compared to last week’s steam rollers, this was a competitive contest. Neither player had a run greater than three. Garvey did have more runs—seven in total—and that helped in the victory. Stroke counts were longer as well. Three rallies lasted longer than ten points, all of them went to Garvey. On the flip side there were 11 one & done points. Service errors were more prevalent in the second set, but there were nine total for the match. Garvey picked up the first run of three to take a 5-1 lead. She started the match with two straight cross court drops. Thao never could get traction in the first set and had four winners. Garvey strung together five runs in that set. Both players drifted to favorite winner in the second set: Garvey had six winners on smashes, Thao had five that fell on soft drives. Neither player picked up a run in the first half of the set. Garvey led 13-11 when Thao broke through with three straight to take a 14-13 lead (all started on a missed serve). Thao’s last lead came at 15-14. Garvey inched in front with her first run at 17-15. Thao tied it at 17 after an ace. Garvey started her second run with a ten stroke smash. Thao held off match point twice, but a four stroke drop ended the match 21-19.
| Category | GARVEY | THAO |
| Side out | 13/21-.619 | 9/21-.429 |
| 3+ Runs | 7 | 1 |
| Longest point string | 3 | 3 |
| Service points | 21 | 9 |
| Overall points | 42 | 30 |
| Strokes | 170 | 92 |
| Strokes per point | 4.048 | 3.067 |
| 5+ rallies | 11 | 4 |
| 2- rallies | 17 | 11 |
| WINNERS | 17 | 10 |
| Aces | 1 | 1 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 2 | 1 |
| Drives | 0 | 0 |
| Drops | 4 | 0 |
| Soft drives | 3 | 7 |
| Smashes | 7 | 1 |
| ERRORS | 20 | 25 |
| Deep | 2 | 3 |
| Net | 7 | 10 |
| Wide | 7 | 7 |
| Serve | 4 | 5 |
| W:E Ratio | 0.850 | .400 |
| Margin | 6.000 | |
| Set Point % | 2/4-.500 | |
| Time | 14:48.43 |