Phlower VANG 2, Kimberly TOBAR 1 (20-22, 21-12, 21-18)
Highland Park’s Phlower Vang kept the singles title for St. Paul with the Scots for the second straight year with a grueling three set match with Kimberly Tobar of Harding. This was the third time this pair met, and Vang got revenge for her only loss of the year to Tobar on April 16 in a two-set match. The first time this pair met was on March 20 it also went three with Tobar taking the first set and Vang coming back to take the next two. Today’s match held more heft: the winner was more than likely to be the number one seed in the state tournament. Plus, there was a crown on the line. And both players raised their level of play to meet the stage. Drama abounded. This match lasted 52 minutes in real time (including between sets). By contrast the Minneapolis title match lasted 18 total minutes on Wednesday. Part of that reason for the length was the stroke count: a combined 610. And it got loooonger as the match went on. In the third set five strokes or more rallies comprised 24 of the 39 points or 61.5%. Nine rallies lasted 10 strokes or more including one epic 24 stroke point with strong defense shown by both players. Tobar won the point on a smash that nicked the net to drop over.
There was drama from the start. There were four lead changes in set one. Tobar grabbed the first run on her fourth service to pull in front 7-4. Vang responded with her first run with four to inch forward 8-7. A 13-stroke smash put the Scot up 11-8. Tobar’s second run put her back in the lead 13-12. Vang had her third run shortly thereafter for a 16-14 advantage. Tobar enjoyed her final run of the set with the longest run of any player of the day with five straight capped by a seven-stroke clear to make it 20-17. Vang showed her resilience by holding off set point three times all on two stroke actions to tie it at 20. Tobar reasserted herself with a ten-stroke smash for her fourth set point opportunity. A two-stroke hitting error that sailed wide sealed the victory for the Knight. In this set two stroke or less points were more prevalent with 18. That dropped to 12 in set two, only five in the final.
Vang kept building momentum in set two holding Tobar to zero runs and only three service points. Vang got the bird back nine times all on winners, five of which came on the two strokes. While Tobar was silent on runs, Vang got off with a run at the start and added another on service three for a 7-3 lead. Vang never trailed this set. Tobar cut into that margin at 11-9. During this stretch I was even called on to clarify the score (9-7 at the time for Vang). Vang got her last run in this set with five straight, again all on the two stroke for a 16-9 bump. In this set Vang had 13 winners and Tobar only had five.
There were five lead changes in the marathon third set. Both players had leads of three at one point or another. Tobar’s largest lead came at 14-11. She had her only run one service before that for the fourth lead change. The fifth and final lead change came on Vang’s second run on her tenth service 16-15. Her final run nearly closed out the match at 20-17. A six stroke Tobar smash gave a glimmer of hope. Vang ended it all with a smash to the left back corner on a two stroke.
Both players seized advantage of stray birds for smashes with Vang getting 18, Tobar 14. Vang also had double digits in the soft drive category right at 10. Tobar’s next favorite winner on the day was the clear with six. Both players had to earn their points. Errors were at a minimum. Only ten points in the final set were errors. Perhaps the key for Vang’s victory was silencing Tobar on serve the last four attempts. Two of those side outs lasted 15 (hitting error wide) and 16 (clear) strokes. These two could meet again in the state final at Edina next Thursday.
| Category | VANG | TOBAR |
| Side out | 18/33-.545 | 16/31-.516 |
| Longest side out string | 4 | 3 |
| 3+ Runs | 9 | 4 |
| Longest point string | 5 | 5 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 3 | 1, 2 |
| First point | 2 | 1, 3 |
| Service points | 29 | 21 |
| Serving % | 57/60-.950 | 52/53-.981 |
| Point generated off serve | .475 | .404 |
| POINTS | 61 | 52 |
| Points after 11 | 29 | 26 |
| Points after own errors | 14 | 6 |
| Winners after own errors | 7 | 3 |
| STROKES | 296 | 314 |
| Strokes per point | 4.852 | 6.038 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 24 | 28 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 21 | 14 |
| WINNERS | 12, 13, 17-42 | 15, 5, 12-32 |
| Aces | 0 | 1 |
| Blocks | 0 | 1 |
| Clears | 5 | 6 |
| Drives | 3 | 4 |
| Drops | 6 | 2 |
| Soft drives | 10 | 4 |
| Smashes | 18 | 14 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 24 | 21 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 13 | 5 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 18 | 11 |
| ERRORS | 7, 7, 6-20 | 8, 7, 4-19 |
| Deep | 2 | 2 |
| Net | 9 | 8 |
| Wide | 6 | 8 |
| Serve | 3 | 1 |
| Even stroke errors | 9 | 15 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 3 | 8 |
| Odd stroke errors | 11 | 4 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 15 | 8 |
| Right | 27 | 24 |
| Largest Lead | 3, 8, 3 | 3, 0, 3 |
| W:E Ratio | 2.100 | 1.684 |
| Margin | 3.333 | |
| Set Point % | 2/4-.500 | ¼-.250 |
| Time | 52:00 | Real time |
The doubles will probably be out on Saturday. I will also add the more granular look at singles with where each player is getting their shots. I hope that is ready to go on Saturday too.