Pierre claimed their first ever girls state tennis championship this week at the ‘A’ state tournament in Rapid City. The Governors finished with 506.5 total points, followed by St. Thomas More with 397, Sioux Falls Christian with 388, Huron at 293, and Rapid City Christian with 258. Full standings are available by clicking here.
For Pierre head girls tennis coach Megan Bauck, she’s pleased by what her team achieved.
“This is incredible. The history of our program has never won a girls state tennis title, so this is huge for us. It was always something that we knew was within grasp,” state Bauck. “To see these girls come out, just give it their all, and clinch it is so exciting as a coach. And to see their hard work pay off, it’s just amazing feeling, not only for me, but for them.”
The Governors won two singles flights and two doubles flights. Kara Weiss won Singles Flight 2, while Jocelyn Corrales claimed the title in Singles Flight 4. Sydney Tedrow and Caitlin Ott both finished second in their flights, Tedrow in Singles Flight 1 and Ott in Singles Flight 6, and then Marlee Shorter took home third in Singles Flight 3, while Kourtney Walti snagged the same placement in Singles Flight 5.
Tedrow and Weiss as a duo placed first in Doubles Flight 1 and Corrales and Ott finished first in Doubles Flight 3. Shorter and Walti claimed third place in Doubles Flight 2.
Shorter, Tedrow, Walti, and Weiss are the four seniors on this year’s Governors girls tennis team.
“Most of them started when they were 7th or 8th graders. You know, they came in and got licked when they were little, so to see them grow and see them as state champions now, it’s incredible,” Coach Bauck said.
Weather was a challenge for all of the teams competing in the tournament. On and off rainy conditions forced matches to rotate from both outdoor to indoor facilities throughout the two-day event.
“That’s always hard when you have to stop and start matches so often. But they were in a really good head space, and you know, we took the car ride to regroup,” explained Bauck. “Whether we’re up or down, we’re like, it’s back to zero-zero, we’re just going to go back in, play tennis like we know how, and we’re just going to give it our best.”
This is the fourth year of high school tennis in South Dakota having a two-class system, rather than just one. For complete results of the ‘A’ girls state tennis tournament, and to view event and award photos, click here.