Benz pulls off upset; heads to State
Defeats No. 2-seeded player and finishes second in Section 2A
Senior Marissa Benz is ending her high school tennis career in a big way.
The No. 3-seeded Benz pulled off a dramatic, three-set upset of the No. 2-seeded player, Claire Nemmers of Fairmont, in the Section 2A individual tennis meet semifinals. The tournament took place on Wednesday, Oct. 13, on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College, in St. Peter.
After defeating Nemmers, Benz then lost in the singles championship match to top-seeded Jaelyn Haler of St. James Area. She still advanced to the State Tournament when Nemmers defeated No. 5-seeded Briana Joseph, also of Fairmont, to capture third place. The victory by Nemmers over Joseph eliminated the need for a true-second match.
Benz and Nemmers had battled on the court a little over a month ago and the Fairmont player had won a decisive 6-0, 6-1 victory over Benz.
The I-90 rivals played a closely contested first set with Benz edging her Cardinal opponent 7-5.
Following her first set loss, Nemmers seemed to find her stride and lost only one game in the second set, winning 6-1.
“She lost some focus in the second set,” Blue Earth Area head coach Konny Wolff said about Benz. “I had her take the whole 10 minutes allowed between the second and third set for a break to regroup.”
Wolff’s strategy worked.
Benz came out and won a down-to-the-wire 7-5 victory in the deciding set to send her to the singles finals.
“She went out and played a great third set and it took her into the championship match,” Wolff commented. “Marissa played her best tennis of the season today when she defeated Claire. She moved Claire around the court with her forehand shots and her serves were on fire. I am very happy for her.”
The Class A State Tournament will be held Oct. 28-29 at the Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
Benz was not the only Buccaneer tennis player in action at the Section 2A tournament.
The doubles team of Kylie Rosenau and Olivia Dutton met one of the two doubles teams from Fairmont in the semifinals.
Ellie Hernes and Lauren Davis of the Cards defeated Rosenau and Dutton in a three-set match, 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 7-5.
The loss sent Rosenau and Dutton to the match for third place against Sailor Mohlenbrock and Allison Bluedorn of St. James Area.
The BEA pair won the first set 6-2. However, Mohlenbrock and Bluedorn captured the second set 6-3.
The final set came down to a tiebreaker and Mohlenbrock and Bluedorn claimed the final set 7-6 (7-3).
It was the last match of her high school career for Rosenau, who had an outstanding senior season for the Bucs.
Dutton, a sophomore, will return for another year of tennis next fall at Blue Earth Area.