Walker, Baker, Blomstedt advance to state
RED OAK — State is once again in the cards for the Red Oak girls tennis team.
Kate Walker, as well as the doubles team of Zoey Baker and Grace Blomstedt, qualified for the state tournament last Thursday at Shenandoah High School.
Additionally, the team was able to win Saturday at home against Glenwood in the regional final and advanced to play first round state against Ballard Monday afternoon. Results weren’t available as of press time, but we will be posting an update online at redoakexpress.com.
For Walker, it marks her second appearance at the state tournament individually. She was able to qualify as a freshman last season.
“I think I’ve gotten a lot more aggressive this year and because everyone else has gotten so much better, they’ve pushed me a lot more,” Walker said following her win Thursday.
In the regional singles final last Thursday, Walkerdefeated Glenwood’s Ons Souissi 6-1 and 6-0 to win the regional championship for a second straight time.
Walker strolled through the field in regional singles and also had a first round bye.
Last season, Walker entered the state tournament unseeded and was able to score a 6-1, 6-2 first round win against Gabby Greco of Waterloo Columbus.
Walker lost in the quarterfinals to Amanda Stefanik of Oskaloosa 6-4 and 6-2. In consolation quarterfinals, Walker lost in three sets to Jenna Wilkinson of Independence 7-6(3), 4-6 and 1-0(9). Walker said her goal this time around will be to place in the top eight.
“Last year, I didn’t play as well as I wanted to at state,” she said. “I’m going to practice a lot before then and be smart at state.”
For Baker and Blomstedt, this will be their first appearance at the state tournament in individuals. Both were part of the team tournament last season, along with Walker. Additionally, Baker was part of the team tournament in 2011.
Baker and Blomstedt qualified for the tournament when they defeated Grace Newman and Rachel Tucker of Glenwood in the regional championship match 2-6, 7-5 and 6-4.
“Today was a really long day and if this happens at state, we need to be more prepared,” Baker said.
The doubles had to come back from 5-2 in the second set to force a third.
“I was just thinking about the next point,” Blomstedt said. “We had to play defense at that point. There comes a time when you have to do it.”
Red Oak won five straight games to take the second set.
“There was a point, where it was 40-30 and they could have won the whole thing at 5-3,” Baker said.
In the third set, Newman and Tucker jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Red Oak was able to chip away, eventually taking over the lead and winning the third set.
“Since we did it in the second set, it was like ‘oh we can do this’,” Blomstedt said.
Both Baker and Blomstedt agree it was more important to enter the individual tournament as doubles champions.
“I think yes because now we’ll have a better chance to win in the first round,” Blomstedt said. “It will be nice to know we won’t be going against another regional champion.”
Baker and Blomstedt have been paired as doubles since last season and both feel their rapport has improved since then.
“We have had great chemistry this year. We know how each other plays,” Baker said. “I bring harder hits to the field, where she knows how to control the points.”
Additionally, Erica Sherman and Paige Vannausdle are alternates as they finished third in the doubles tournament when they defeated Jana King and Montana Crow of Glenwood 6-4 and 6-3.
Should either of the top two teams drop out, Sherman and Vannausdle would be bumped into the top two.
That happened two years ago with the doubles team of Jordan Nelson and Craig White.
In the team tournament regional final Saturday, Red Oak was able to win all of its matches in singles.
Walker had a close first set with Souissi, but was able to win in straight sets 7-5 and 6-1.
Sherman also had a close first set, but defeated Rachel Tucker 7-5 and 6-2. Blomstedt won 6-1 and 6-2 against Grace Newman, while Baker defeated Montana Crow by the same score.
Micayla Taylor had the clinching win when she defeated Maggie Finnegan 6-3 and 6-1.
Vannausdle had completed her first set against Jana King when the dual ended, leading 6-3. Baker and Blomstedt were leading Souissi and Crow 6-2 and 6-2.
Hawkeye 10
Tournament
The Red Oak girls were able to leave Carroll last Monday by winning their 14th straight Hawkeye 10 team title.
Red Oak won with a team score of 30 points, beating Glenwood by four points. Clarinda finished third, while Shenandoah took fourth. Creston and Lewis Central were tied for fifth.
The Tigers swept both doubles championships. Baker and Blomstedt won the No. 1 doubles title when they defeated Rachel Tucker and Grace Newman of Glenwood 6-2 and 6-2.
In No. 2 doubles, Sherman and Vannausdle defeated Jana King and Maggie Finnigan of Glenwood 6-0 and 6-2.
Walker and Taylor were both runner-ups in singles. Walker was second in the No. 1 singles division when she lost to Abby Bergsten of Lewis Cenral 6-3 and 6-0.
Taylor meanwhile lost to Sarah Cabeen of Clarinda 6-3 and 6-0 to place second in No. 2 singles.