By John George
A clean sweep by the Eagle doubles teams led New York Mills to a 4-3 win over St. John's Prep last Thursday.
Mills won the three doubles matches easily, losing just six total points. The No. 2 duo of Margaret Nelson and Ally Slieter had the easiest time, winning 6-0, 6-0.
The difference in the match was a 6-1, 6-2 win by Vanessa Goesson at No. 3 singles.
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The win gave New York Mills fourth place for the regular season in the Prairie Conference.
Conference Tournament
The Eagles weren't able to capitalize on Thursday's win as they played in the Prairie Conference Tournament Saturday in Long Prairie. The Eagles finished 5th at the tournament. Osakis defended their conference title, finishing just ahead of Parkers Prairie.
The lone highlight for the Eagles was at No. 3 singles, where Kendal Perala and Christine Becker finished third.
"Many close matches were played on a a very nice day for tennis," head coach Gary Bach said. "Unfortunately, we didn't win enough of those to advance players or pile up more team points. On the positive side, our players gave us a great effort in all their matches."
Last match canceled
Mills final match of the regular season at Pequot Lakes was canceled Tuesday because of rain.
Sections set
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Despite losing to New York Mills in the season's first meet, Perham earned a higher seed and will host the Eagles in a 8A play-in game today (Oct. 5) at 4 p.m.
"I am disappointed that we aren't able to have the play-in match at home," Bach said. "A couple of coaches weren't aware that we had beaten Perham earlier this year when they cast their votes for seeding. We (Bach and NYM Activities Director Blaine Novak) did what we could to correct it and get the match moved, but Section officials seemed unwilling to make-up for their mistake."
The winner will move on to face 8A South Sub-Section No. 1 seed, Staples-Motley, on Oct. 9 at 1 p.m. in Park Rapids in a quarterfinal match. The other south match-up will pit No. 2 Wadena-Deer Creek against No. 3 Park Rapids.
In the north, No. 5 Bagley/Clearbrook-Gonvik will face No. 4 Mahnomen in a play-in match today, with the winner taking on No. 1 Crookston in the quarterfinals. The north's other match-up will be No. 2 Roseau against No. 3 East Grand Forks.
Both the Section quarterfinals and semifinals will be played Monday. Team finals will be played Oct. 18 in Sartell.
Section 8A Individual play will start Oct. 12 in Park Rapids with the finals scheduled for Oct. 19 in Sartell.
