State tennis: Lincoln Patriots' reign continues with fourth straight team title
Make it four straight for the Lincoln girls tennis dynasty.
The Patriots claimed five individual championships and accumulated 505 points, well clear of second-place St. Thomas More (354) and third-place O'Gorman (331). Brandon Valley (315.5) and Watertown (303) rounded out the top five.
"One (championship) isn't any better than the others," Lincoln coach Tom Krueger said. "It's just special because the kids are great kids."
#SDTENNIS19: Day 2 results | Day 1 results
LHS advanced to the finals at five of six singles flights and two of three doubles flights. Johana Brower (Flt. 1), Elle Dobbs (Flt. 4) and Avery Blackman (Flt. 5) collected singles titles, while the doubles pairings of Brower and Ava Leonard (Flt. 1), and Blackman and Katie Johnson (Flt. 3) won their respective flights.
St. Thomas More's Bridget Raymond (Flt. 2) and Vanessa Wittenberg (Flt. 3), and O'Gorman's Sydney Breit (Flt. 6) won the remaining singles flights. The Knights' pairing of Ella Barnard and Maya Jamous captured the Flight 2 doubles title.
Looking ahead, Lincoln loses just two players: Brita Quello (graduation) and Johnson (moving).
"It's not what I'm doing, it's what they're doing during the 10 months of the year that I'm not with them," Krueger said. "I'm just lucky that I have kids who work their butts off 10 months of the year so when it comes time for the high school season they're polished and experienced."
BROWER WINS FINALE AGAINST LEHFELDT
Brower has been playing against Brandon Valley senior Tanna Lehfeldt since she was 10 years old.
While Lehfeldt seemingly had the upper hand when they were younger, the ledger has since balanced out with the two engaging in some tightly-contested battles. Their most recent meeting — in Friday's Flight 1 championship match — was no exception with Brower defeating her BV counterpart, 6-4, 6-1.
"I'm really honored to have played against all the people I have this season, especially Tanna," Brower said. "I admire Tanna a lot. I love playing her, honestly. It's just so much fun."
The opening set was a back-and-forth affair with Lehfeldt tying the match at four games apiece before Brower closed it out with back-to-back wins.
Set two was significantly more one-sided with the Lincoln junior immediately taking control on her way to her second consecutive top flight title.
"Johana is such a smart tennis player that, when she's mentally tough, she's really difficult to beat," Krueger said. "The first set, I think she was a little more emotional and getting into her own head whereas the second one, she just hunkered down and decided this is the way I need to play."
"I was really nervous in the first set with it being the final," Brower added. "I just started playing more confidently and hitting the balls I knew how to. … I knew if I lost, I would let down the entire team. I had to pull myself back together."
Johana's two older sisters, former O'Gorman standout Morgan Brower and former Lincoln standout Sidney Brower, were in attendance for Friday's festivities. "They always believe I'm going to win no matter who I'm playing," Johana said. "They just tell me to play confidently and it's OK, no matter what the outcome is."
PATS PICK UP QUELLO AMIDST DIFFICULT TOURNEY
For some teams, having just one senior on the roster might compel the juniors to take on prominent leadership roles.
That wasn't the case for the Patriots. They found leadership in Quello who accepted her mantle as a senior, setting the tone for her teammates and helping the Patriots to their fourth consecutive team championship.
"Brita took charge and showed the other kids how it's done," Krueger said. "She's just an excellent role model. (We) couldn't ask for more."
On paper, Quello was a natural fit for team captain.
A four-time team state champion and 2018 Flight 4 singles champ, she had not lost a singles match since the 2017 state semifinals entering this year's state tournament. But she didn't use that resume to lord over her teammates. Instead, Krueger said, she led by example. "You're doing drills or they're playing at practice and she's the first one off the bench, kind of like, 'Here we go, let's go,'" he continued. "She's such an awesome kid."
"It's been really wonderful. I love Brita," added Brower. "I love her energy on the court. If I'm down, she'll come over to my court and pump me up. It's just really fun to play with her."
Quello was unwavering in supporting her teammates and the last two days of her high school career allowed them to pay it forward.
The top seed at Flight 3 singles, Quello was upset by Washington's Rylie Nesheim in the quarterfinals. She bounced back with wins over Roosevelt's Danica Hubers and Brandon Valley's Michaela Jerke but fell to Stevens' Anna Mueller, 9-7, in the fifth-place match Friday afternoon.
"This tournament has been really difficult, but (my teammates) have all been so supportive," Quello said as she prepared for her doubles match Friday. "I love them. We're all so close."
"I feel for her," Krueger added. "(The seniors) are the ones that you want to finish strong and leave with that good taste in their mouth. She's a great kid, though."
RAYMOND TOPS LEONARD IN DRAMATIC FLIGHT 2 FINAL
The Flight 2 singles final was arguably the most intense match of the day with St. Thomas More's Bridget Raymond fighting off Lincoln's Ava Leonard in three sets (6-0, 4-6, 10-6).
After watching Raymond dominate the first set, Krueger met with Leonard on the sideline and offered some words of encouragement, drawing from Brower's quarterfinal against Aberdeen Central's Olivia Goetz.
"Johana kind of helped with that one because she was down 2-7 in her first match (Thursday) and came back to win 10-7," Krueger explained. "I said, 'This is your 2-7 match. It's just like 'Jo'. You have to battle back. You know you can compete. Dig deep and fight back.' And she did up until the very end. She just couldn't close it out."
The third set made for tremendous theater. The two sides went point-for-point with nearly every pressure-packed score followed by a yell from the scoring player (typically a "LET'S GO!") and a roar from her respective fans.
"Ava's an interesting player. I love watching her," Brower laughed. "Her and Bridget always go back and forth. They're just good competitors so playing against one another is really intense."
Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.
Correction:The original version of this story incorrectly stated the number of titles in a row Lincoln has won. They have won five straight titles.