NORTH ST. PAUL 5, TRINITY 2
For the second straight weekday, North St. Paul was playing in the only match scheduled and this time the Polars traveled to Trinity and topped the Tri-Hawks 5-2. Last Friday Edina beat NSP 7-0.
Trinity took second singles and first doubles for their pair of wins, both matches going three sets. Julia Williams & Margaret Ryan, the Trinity first doubles team, is now 5-1 on the season. The second doubles match won by NSP also went three sets, with the other five going two. The Polars also won the narrow two point sets 3-2. The margins at doubles were the closest with two of the matches going three sets. NSP prevailed with a margin of 2.125. Singles was a bit more comfortable in their margin at 3.778.
SINGLES
1. Sheng, NSP def Maggie Kocan 21-13, 25-23
2. Anna Sarakaitis, T def Deishia 13-21 21-19, 21-14
3. Isabelle, NSP def Mary Endris 21-9, 21-19
4. Ashley, NSP def Terese Hipp 21-18, 21-13
DOUBLES
1. Julia Williams / Margaret Ryan, T def Claire / Jolena 21-15, 14-21, 21-19
2. Juliet / Joscelyn, NSP def Coco Barber / Lucy Duwhower 21-17, 17-21, 21-13
3. Pajzib / Ava, NSP def Ilani Buckholdt / Norah Chilton 21-19, 21-13
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: North St. Paul 3-1 .750
Games: North St. Paul 7-2 .778
points: North St. Paul 184-150 .551
Set 1 points: North St. Paul 84-53 .613
Set 2 points: North St. Paul 86-76 .531
Set 3 points: Trinity 21-14 .600
decided by 10+: North St. Paul 1-0 1.000
decided by 3-: North St. Paul 3-1 .750
margin: North St. Paul 3.778
DOUBLES
Matches: North St. Paul 2-1 .667
Games: North St. Paul 5-3 .625
points: North St. Paul 156-139 .529
Set 1 points: Split 57-57 .500
Set 2 points: North St. Paul 59-48 .551
Set 3 points: North St. Paul 40-34 .541
decided by 10+: none
decided by 3-: split 1-1 .500
margin: North St. Paul 2.125
FIRST SINGLES
SHENG 2, MAGGIE KOCON 0 (21-13, 25-23)
NSP’s Sheng rallied from down eight in the second set to secure the win over Maggie Kocon. The later the set went the advantage shifted to Sheng. In set one Sheng led 11-9, in set two she trailed 11-8. That deficit got deeper with Kocon pulling out to a steep 17-9 lead. Kocon rolled with the longest point run of the day with nine to get that margin (to 15-8). The problem of Kocon is she only had one other run in the entire match. Sheng notched seven. The winner totals were almost even at 19-18 Sheng, but the error category was where the difference was noticeable. Sheng produced nine less errors and in a tight contest like set two, that is a difference maker. In that set Kocon had 11 winners to only 8 for Sheng. That advantage was erased by 17 errors, seven of which sailed deep.
In the first set Sheng’s first run added four points to her total at 5-2. Kocon quickly tied it up with her first run. The next three point run came for Sheng to pull up 14-10. A missed serve halted that run, but she tacked on another six directly after that to stand at the doorstep 20-11. Two straight drops, the first on six strokes, the next on five, delayed the eventual win for Sheng.
Kocon got things rolling at the start of the second set with a two stroke smash. The two stroke winners for both players were thing (4-3 Sheng). Sheng’s first run in the second set, initiated by a missed serve, put her front 6-4. Kocon had the monster run of the day with eight straight out to 15-8. Five points in that string came on errors. Three of them on the two stroke. Both players had more two stroke errors than winners. Kocon led in this category 8-5, but was able to take advantage of it. At 17-9 a missed serve halted all the momentum. For the next three Sheng services she was able to turn the tables. All three of the those services involved runs. All in all it was a 12-3 run. The last run came after Kocon was on the verge of victory. An eight stroke tap followed by a two stroke error in the net put Kocon up 20-17. A hitting error opened the door for Sheng. After a five stroke smash two more hitting errors gave Sheng her first match point (21-20). The momentum shifted once more to Kocon on a four stroke drop followed by a four stroke error that went wide. Kocon had a third set point after a three stroke error on a soft drive attempt by Sheng. The Polar got the soft drive to fall on the second stroke to tie it at 23. Two clears sailed deep to seal the win for Sheng.
Sheng was able to generate more points off her serve scoring at a rate of 54.3%. Like Friday, Sheng used the power game for her favorite winner with seven smashes. Kocon had the same amount in drops, her favorite winner. The two stroke count definitely was on the error side with Sheng 4-5; Kocon 3-8.
Sheng moves to 4-1 on the year, 3-1 at first singles. Maggie Kocon is 3-3 on the season.
| Category | SHENG | KOCON |
| Side out | 14/21-.667 | 13/22-.591 |
| Longest side out string | 6 | 3 |
| 3+ Runs | 7 | 2 |
| Longest point string | 5 | 9 |
| SERVING | ||
| Service points | 25 | 15 |
| Serving % | 43/46-.935 | 34/36-.944 |
| Point generated off serve | .543 | .417 |
| POINTS | 46 | 36 |
| Points after 11 | 27 | 16 |
| Points after own errors | 13 | 12 |
| STROKES | 155 | 138 |
| Strokes per point | 3.370 | 3.833 |
| 5+ rallies | 10 | 12 |
| 2- rallies | 17 | 12 |
| WINNERS | 18 | 17 |
| Aces | 3 | 1 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 0 | 3 |
| Drives | 0 | 3 |
| Drops | 3 | 7 |
| Soft drives | 5 | 0 |
| Smashes | 7 | 3 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 8 | 10 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 4 | 3 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 10 | 7 |
| ERRORS | 19 | 28 |
| Deep | 2 | 9 |
| Net | 5 | 6 |
| Wide | 9 | 11 |
| Serve | 3 | 2 |
| Even stroke errors | 9 | 15 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 5 | 8 |
| Odd stroke errors | 10 | 13 |
| Largest Lead | 9 | 8 |
| W:E Ratio | 0.947 | 0.607 |
| Margin | 5.000 | |
| Set Point % | 2/6-.333 | 0/2-.000 |
| Time | 17:53 |