JOHNSON 5, ROOSEVELT 2
Was this a preview of the Twin City match up? The city conference leaders faced off at Roosevelt, where competitive singles and doubles matches ended the unbeaten runs of Roosevelt’s Mollie Anderson in first singles and the Teddies’ Abideya Akalewod and Ella Fremstad in first doubles. The Teddies were able to take two matches today, both at singles by the Mitchell sisters (Sophia Mitchell stays unbeaten at second singles). She needed three sets to dispatch Amelia Her. Sophia Mitchell took the first set with a comfortable 21-10 cushion. Her responded with a seven-point margin in the second before Mitchell rebounded with a four-point victory in the final frame. Her sister Lily took her match in two sets. There was another three setter, this time at first doubles, the only match to go three in doubles. Gaonou Vang and Angelina Thao dropped the first set and then picked up steam, or the Roosevelt duo faded going from 21 to 14 to 9.
This was Johnson’s second battle with a conference leader this week. Edina edged the Governors at Edina on Tuesday 4-3. Johnson is now 8-2 on the year. This was Roosevelt’s second loss of the season, both outside of the conference. The Teddies are 10-2, the first squad to double digits.
The Twin City title match will be held on Tuesday, May 5 with Minneapolis hosting. That may be Roosevelt. They have yet to face Camden, also unbeaten in conference action. As for Johnson, they are tied with Harding in St. Paul having split with the Knights. If both win the rest of their matches and there is a tie, I assume it goes to the program with the longest gap in the match up. That would be Harding.
SINGLES
1. Amanda Her, J def Mollie Anderson 21-19, 22-20
2. Sophia Mitchell, R def Amelia Her 21-10, 14-21, 21-17
3. Lily Mitchell, R def KangNang Thao 21-15, 21-19
4. Kelly Sheen, J def Amelie Champe 21-11, 21-8
DOUBLES
1. Gaonou Vang / Angelina Thao, J def Abigeya Akalewold / Ella Fremstad 18-21, 21-14, 21-9
2. Cammie Yang / Aliya Vang, J def Julia Palacios-Almazo / Heidi Farias Perez 21-4, 21-6
3. Shalisha Vang / Krystal Moua, J def Nova Johnson Speed / Evelyn Lorntson 21-9, 21-9
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: tied 2-2 .500
Games: Johnson 5-4 .556
points: Johnson 167-156 .517
Set 1 points: Roosevelt 72-67 .518
Set 2 points: Johnson 83-63 .568
Set 3 points: Roosevelt 21-17 .553
decided by 10+: Johnson 2-1 .667
decided by 3-: Johnson 2-1 .667
margin: Johnson 1.111
DOUBLES
Matches: Johnson 3-0 1.000
Games: Johnson 6-1 .857
points: Johnson 144-72 .667
Set 1 points: Johnson 60-34 .638
Set 2 points: Johnson 63-29 .685
Set 3 points: Johnson 21-9 .700
decided by 10+: Johnson 5-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Roosevelt 1-0 1.000
margin: Johnson 10.286
FIRST SINGLES
Amanda HER 2, Mollie ANDERSON 0
(21-19, 22-20)
Amanda Her rallied for her two set win over previously undefeated Mollie Anderson. In both rallies the deficit was five. It was dramatic in the first set with Anderson holding a 19-14 lead. Her finished with the last seven points of the set. She got the bird back on a four-stroke smash. A series of hitting errors paved the way for Her’s victory in set one. Set two required Her to go to extra points. First Anderson led 15-10. An eight-point surge by Her gave her an 18-15 lead. Anderson wasn’t through. She had a run of four to again lead 19-18. The margins were thin. Her used a soft drive to tie it. Anderson then got the bird back on a wide hitting error after five strokes providing Anderson a set point opportunity. A four-stroke smash staved off that chance and Her never relinquished serve. Again, hitting errors sank Anderson’s chances with a twelve-stroke clear that sailed too deep on the right side ending the night. For the match Her won the error category with 13 to 21 (lower being the better score).
Anderson had a strong performance with a better side out game (.667 to .591) and more winners 26-22. But down the stretch in both sets Her was stronger or more consistent scoring 27 points after Anderson reached 11 first. The Teddy only was able to get 17.
In looking at the winners, the shot of the day was the soft drive. Together both players had 17. Anderson led the way with 10. In the smash department Her won 7-4.
Anderson was hampered by an ankle injury suffered on the second point of the match when attempting to reach a two stroke soft drive by Her.
This was a marathon for two sets with the match time six seconds less than 28 minutes.
With the loss Anderson is now 10-1. That leaves only one unbeaten first singles player—Jenny Lee of Community of Peace. There are two unbeaten second singles players left, one of which is Sophia Mitchell of Roosevelt. Her, who entered the week as the #1 ranked player, is 8-2 for the year.
| Category | HER | ANDERSON |
| Side out | 13/22-.591 | 16/24-.667 |
| Longest side out string | 3 | 4 |
| 3+ Runs | 5 | 4 |
| Longest point string | 8 | 7 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 1, 2 | — |
| First point | — | 1, 2 |
| Service points | 22 | 18 |
| Serving % | 36/39-.923 | 42/43-.978 |
| Point generated off serve | .512 | .462 |
| POINTS | 43 | 39 |
| Points after 11 | 27 | 17 |
| Points after own errors | 6 | 7 |
| Winners after own errors | 5 | 5 |
| STROKES | 174 | 141 |
| Strokes per point | 4.047 | 3.615 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 15 | 8 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 14 | 15 |
| WINNERS | 22 | 26 |
| Aces | 0 | 2 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Clears | 4 | 7 |
| Drives | 1 | 2 |
| Drops | 3 | 1 |
| Soft drives | 7 | 10 |
| Smashes | 7 | 4 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 15 | 13 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 7 | 10 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 7 | 13 |
| ERRORS | 13 | 21 |
| Deep | 0 | 3 |
| Ceiling | 1 | 0 |
| Net | 6 | 13 |
| Wide | 3 | 4 |
| Serve | 3 | 1 |
| Even stroke errors | 4 | 14 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 1 | 6 |
| Odd stroke errors | 9 | 7 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 13 | 13 |
| Right | 9 | 13 |
| Largest Lead | 2, 3 | 5, 5 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.692 | 1.238 |
| Margin | 2.000 | |
| Set Point % | 2/2-1.000 | |
| Time | 27:54 |