The regular season for Hastings Girls Tennis has come to a close and the Raiders earned the 11th seed for the section playoffs. They played host to the 14th seeded Woodbury Royals on Monday where they…….. Last week was a rough one for Hastings falling in all three competitions, first a 5-2 loss to Hill Murray, then 5-2 to Mahtomedi and they finished the regular season with a 4-3 loss to Two Rivers.
Individually, Reese and Brooklyn Keller finished the season undefeated in singles action and the rest of the team made a lot of strides playing deeper into sets against some very tough opponents.
Hill Murray School - 5, Hastings - 2,

Singles:
No. 1 - Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Madeline Bergerson, Hill Murray School, 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 - Reese Keller, Hastings def. McKenna Foley, Hill Murray School, 7-5, 6-0
No. 3 - Sedona Stumpf, Hill Murray School def. Evy Hogan, Hastings, 6-0, 6-0
No. 4 - Brooke Gabel, Hill Murray School def. Nolee Kochendorfer, Hastings, 6-0, 6-0
Doubles:
No. 1 - Taylor Voigt - Rachael Herrmann, Hill Murray School def. Jenna Brommerich - Sophia Johnson, Hastings, 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 - Josie Skoogman - Nora Rubischko, Hill Murray School def. Julia Rotty - Maelyn Kirk, Hastings, 6-0, 6-1
We spoke with Head Coach Marissa Welch during the Mahtomedi match, and she was quite happy with the way her Raiders were performing against the number one team in the conference.
“They are number one, and they are tough. We played Hill Murray just yesterday, and they had said they had lost, and it was a strong Hill Murray team. So, I was expecting this to be tough, but I don't think we are backing down at all. And I think it's just getting us ready for sections,” she said.
The Raiders did ultimately fall to Mahtomedi, but it was not an easy win for the Zephyrs. A lot of the points were long volleys, and the individual games had a lot of back and forth despite the appearance of many 6-0 defeats for Hastings.
Reese Keller had a bit of a fight on her hands which seemed to draw a little frustration and a lot of perseverance from the top Raider player. Keller fought through a 3-6 loss in the first match to come back and win both of the subsequent matches 6-1 and 10-2.

Mahtomedi - 5, Hastings - 2,
Singles:
No. 1 - Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Alayna Bartylla, Mahtomedi, 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 - Reese Keller, Hastings def. Lily Carlson, Mahtomedi, 3-6, 6-1, 10-2
No. 3 - Annika Winke, Mahtomedi def. Evy Hogan, Hastings, 6-0, 6-0
No. 4 - Ellis Krause, Mahtomedi def. Maelyn Kirk, Hastings, 6-1, 6-0
Doubles:
No. 1 - Mallory Langer - Katherine Smith, Mahtomedi def. Emery Hedeen - Sophia Johnson, Hastings, 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 - Molly Moffitt - Greta Munson, Mahtomedi def. Julia Rotty - Wills Nelson, Hastings, 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 - Berkley Blaisdell - Amber Schaefer, Mahtomedi def. Megan Sieben - Nolee Kochendorfer, Hastings, 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 - Elle Engehardt - Jaycee Chatleain, Hill Murray School def. Wills Nelson - Megan Sieben, Hastings, 6-3, 6-1

Two Rivers High School - 4, Hastings- 3,
Singles:
No. 1 - Brooklyn Keller, Hastings def. Erica Eckmann, Two Rivers High School, 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 - Reese Keller, Hastings def. Bryn Christopherson, Two Rivers High School, 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 - Clara Rebhan, Two Rivers High School def. Jenna Brommerich, Hastings, 7-5, 6-1
No. 4 - Gabby Stevens, Two Rivers High School def. Wills Nelson, Hastings, 6-0, 0-6, 6-2
Doubles:
No. 1 - Amelie Williams - Olivia Kanavati, Two Rivers High School def. Emery Hedeen - Sophia Johnson, Hastings, 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 - Julia Rotty - Evy Hogan, Hastings def. Mia Walz - Charlotte Boline, Two Rivers High School, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6
No. 3 - Kyla Gatti - Amelia Board, Two Rivers High School def. Megan Sieben - Maelyn Kirk, Hastings, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
With the regular season completed, Hastings jumps right into section play and that began on Monday, September 30 with Hastings being the 11 seed hosting the 14 seeded Royals from Woodbury. Section play can be a bit relentless for the win or go home tournament.
Hastings fell to the Royals in dramatic fashion on Monday. Both Brooklyn and Reese Keller earned a quick win in their matches and the Raiders number two doubles Julia Rotty/Evy Hogan quickly won theirs to go up 3-0. The number three singles, Jenna Bromerich was unable to pull out the win to lock in the team victory, so it came down to the number four singles, Wills Nelson and the number one doubles of Emery Hedeen/Sophia Johnson, and number three doubles of Megan Sieben/Maelyn Kirk. All three matches were split 1-1 forcing a third set and the third sets started close.
With there being seven total team points available, Hastings only needed one win to clinch the second day of action at Park of Cottage Grove. The last time Hastings played Park, they fell 4-3, so the possibility of a second-round tournament win was good, if they were able to lock in just one more win out of three matches remaining.
Unfortunately, the ball bounced Woodbury’s way more often than Hastings and they eliminated the Raiders 4-3 ending the season in heartbreaking fashion.
With the team elimination from section play, Hastings will now focus on the individual side of the state tournament. The Section level of that tournament will begin October 10 at the Baseline Tennis Center at the University of Minnesota. The times for the first round are unknown at this time, we will make sure to update you on social media when the times are released, most likely on October 7 when the bracket is released.