MINNEAPOLIS CITY TOURNAMENT
Penelope Onsrud of Washburn became the first Miller at singles or doubles to win the city crown. The #1 seeded Onsrud rallied to beat #2 seed Becca Murphy from Southwest 21-18, 22-20. More on that contest below. The #1 seeded team at doubles also claimed victory. But this was not a first. Nisa Khairunisa and Darla Dennis of South picked up their second straight doubles title, the third time there has been a repeat champion in doubles in the last ten years.
The tournament was modified this year with a one & done format with the top two teams from each school separated on different sides of the bracket.
On the singles side of the ledger there were four #2 singles that made the quarters. At no point in the singles tournament did a match go to three sets. The only set to go to extra points came in the second set of the championship game. There was no third place game as the two South players opted out.
Doubles had a different feel. Three times in the first round games the matches went to three sets. There were a pair of upsets in the tournament and that came in the doubles quarterfinals when the #3 seed, the Southwest first singles, fell to the second doubles team from South, Maddy Tennant and Jane Harris. The Tiger duo pulled the same trick against the #2 seed, the first doubles pair from Henry. There were two sets that went to extra points.
SINGLES
FIRST ROUND
Sagal Hussein, Edison def Pa Houa, Henry 21-15, 21-15
Deratu Ansha, South def Marike, Roosevelt 21-6, 21-5
Kagal Ondich, Southwest def Al Hadley, North 21-15, 21-6
Bella Kantharak, South def Amaya Walker, Nnorth 21-11, 21-8
Emma Anderson, Washburn def Pa Nhia, Henry 21-2, 21-3
Alice, Roosevelt def Der, Edison 21-16, 21-4
QUARTERFINALS
Penelope Onsrud, Washburn def Sagal Hussein, Edison 21-9, 21-17
Deratu Ansha, South def Kagal Ondich, Southwest 21-6, 21-8
Bella Kantharak, South def Emma Anderson, Washburn 21-16, 21-17
Becca Murphy, Southwest def Alice, Roosevelt 21-6, 21-10
SEMIFINALS
Penelope Onsrud, Washburn def Deratu Ansha, South 21-16, 21-14
Becca Murphy, Southwest def Bella Kantharak, South 21-12, 21-13
CHAMPIONSHIP
Penelope Onsrud, Washburn def Becca Murphy, Southwest 21-18, 22-20
DOUBLES
FIRST ROUND
Maya/Julia, Roosevelt def Betty/Cindy, Henry 13-21, 21-14, 21-18
Kayla/Amelia, Washburn def Daisy/Hodo, Edison 21-9, 21-15
Ani/Kinsey, Southwest def Marli/Khadija, North 17-21, 21-15, 21-14
Maddy/Jane, South def Jacky/Sarena, Roosevelt 21-14, 21-10
Paige/Maggie, Southwest def Lauryn/Capri 21-3, 21-8
Eleanor/Hannah, Washburn def Poul/Joua 16-21, 21-17, 21-18
QUARTERFINALS
Nisa/Darla, South def Maya/Julia, Roosevelt 21-12, 21-6
Kayla/Amelia, Washburn def Ani/Kinsey, Southwest 21-13, 22-20
Maddy/Jane, South def Paige/Maggie, Southwest 21-15, 21-14
Lucas/Cynthia, Henry def Eleanor/Hannah, Washburn 21-5, 21-8
SEMIFINALS
Nisa/Darla, South def Kayla/Amelia, Washburn 21-5, 21-17
Maddy/Jane, South def Lucas/Cynthia, Henry 22-20, 21-19
3rd
Lucas/Cynthia, Henry def Kayla/Amelia, Washburn 21-13, 21-9
CHAMPIONSHIP
Nisa/Darla, South def Maddy/Jane, South 21-19, 21-3
FIRST SINGLES
Penelope ONSRUD 2, Becca MURPHY 0
(21-18, 22-20)
Onsrud made history by being the first Washburn Miller to get a first place medal at the city tournament. The #1 seed rallied twice in the twilight of both first and second sets. In set one lefty Becca Murphy of Southwest, the #2 seed, led 17-16; in set two Murphy was on the cusp of sending the contest to a third set with a 20-17 lead. A missed serve derailed that chance. Onsrud held off set point two more times. She closed with two soft drives. All told, in the last segments, Onsrud outscored Murphy 10-1.
Onsrud utilized her smash for 11 winners on the day. The Miller’s strategy put Murphy in one portion of the court and then put the bird in the other half.
Neither player was stellar at the service line, but each faltered in one set. Murphy missed on five serves in set one; Onsrud misfired on six in the second set. Both players terminated their own serve at different times. Murphy stopped her own service four times to start the first set. Onsrud terminated her own serve three times to open the second set. That wasn’t the only hot/cold stat. Murphy out earned Onsrud 12-6 in set one; Onsrud reversed that 16-5 in the second.
One of the longest side out strings all year came in the second set with 11 straight side outs.
This was one of the longer two set match ups I charted this year closing in on twenty minutes. Part of that length may be due to the increased time between serve initiation due to fatigue.
| Category | ONSRUD | MURPHY |
| Side out | 14/23-.609 | 13/25-.520 |
| Longest side out string | 6 | 5 |
| 3+ Runs | 5 | 4 |
| Longest point string | 5 | 5 |
| SERVING | ||
| Service points | 20 | 15 |
| Serving % | 35/43-.814 | 31/38-.816 |
| Point generated off serve | .465 | .395 |
| Short/ pts w | 7/15-.467 | 9/18-.500 |
| Deep/ pts w | 13/28-.464 | 6/20-.300 |
| POINTS | ||
| Overall points | 43 | 38 |
| Points after 11 | 25 | 16 |
| Points after own errors | 13 | 9 |
| STROKES | ||
| Strokes | 166 | 133 |
| Strokes per point | 3.860 | 3.500 |
| 5+ rallies | 17(.395) | 10(.263) |
| 2- rallies | 16(.372) | 18(.474) |
| WINNERS | 22(.512) | 17(.447) |
| Aces | 0 | 1(.059) |
| Blocks | 1(.045) | 0 |
| Clears | 2(.091) | 2(.118) |
| Drives | 2(.091) | 5(.294) |
| Drops | 4(.182) | 2(.118) |
| Soft drives | 2(.091) | 4(.235) |
| Smashes | 11(.500) | 5(.294) |
| Favorite 2 stroke side out | Three with 1 | Soft drive 2 |
| ERRORS | 21(.553) | 21(.488) |
| Deep | 3(.143) | 4(.190) |
| Net | 8(.381) | 9(.429) |
| Wide | 2(.095) | 1(.048) |
| Serve | 8(.381) | 7(.333) |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Back line | 5(.227) | 2(.118) |
| Middle | 10(.455) | 9(.529) |
| Front line | 7(.318) | 6(.353) |
| Left | 8(.364) | 7(.412) |
| Right | 14(.636) | 10(.588) |
| W:E Ratio | 1.048 | 0.810 |
| Margin | 2.500 | |
| Set Point % | 2/2-1.000 | 0/3-.000 |
| Time | 19:49.22 |