RAPID CITY — Allie Mondloch rallied from a set down to reach the semifinals of the top singles flight, and Calisa Alderson placed sixth in both singles and doubles as Spearfish finished 10th at the Class A girls state tennis tournament Tuesday at Sioux Park.
The Spartans scored 96 team points, adding 10 on the final day after sitting ninth with 86 following Monday’s opening rounds. Spearfish went 6-18 in matches over the two days. Sioux Falls Christian won the team title with 600 points, its third championship in four years.
Mondloch reaches final four
Mondloch, the No. 5 seed in Flight 1 singles, opened with a first-round bye and then dropped the first set of her championship quarterfinal 6-3 to No. 4 Katie Yoon of Vermillion. She won the second set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (1), and took the match tiebreaker 10-5 to move into the semifinals.
There she met top-seeded Mackenzie Boyle of Sioux Falls Christian, who won 6-2, 6-0 on her way to the state singles title. Mondloch then fell 10-3 to Milbank’s Jenna Korstjens, the No. 3 seed, in the third-place match and finished fourth.
Alderson battles through the back draw
Alderson, seeded seventh in Flight 3 singles, outlasted No. 10 Blakesley Schleiffarth of St. Thomas More 6-4, 0-6, 10-8 in the first round before losing 6-3, 6-1 to No. 2 Challie Sah of Huron in the quarterfinals.
She answered in the consolation bracket, beating Madison’s Shelby Poncelet 10-2 and edging Aberdeen Roncalli’s Gianna Cihak 10-9 (3). Vermillion’s Shelan Hinseth won the fifth-place match 10-5, leaving Alderson sixth.
Alderson also teamed with Natalie Schutz as the No. 7 seed in Flight 2 doubles. After a first-round bye, the pair lost 6-0, 6-3 to Vermillion’s S. Hinseth and E. Holdhusen, the No. 2 seed. They rebounded with a 10-4 win over Madison’s S. Poncelet and A. Ingham and a 10-9 (4) win over Lennox’s E. Ellwein and M. Hofer before Huron’s I. Meyer and T. Sorben took the fifth-place match 10-3.
Alderson finished the tournament 5-4 across her two flights.
Other Spartan results
Spearfish’s other six entries each went 0-2.
In Flight 2 singles, No. 8 Michaela Harvey lost 6-4, 6-1 to No. 9 Nora Alustiza Roitegui of Lennox, then 10-5 to Milbank’s Charlotte Swanson in the consolation quarterfinals.
In Flight 4, No. 10 Natalie Schutz fell 6-0, 6-1 to No. 7 Grace Herrington of Rapid City Christian, who went on to win fifth place, and then 10-3 to Lennox’s Ella Ellwein.
In Flight 5, No. 9 Adaleigh Baker lost 6-1, 6-2 to No. 8 Maliyah Hofer of Lennox and 10-4 to Milbank’s Bri Hicks.
In Flight 6, No. 8 Ainsley Roberts played Spearfish’s closest first-round loss, falling 7-5, 6-4 to No. 9 Karissa Grayson of Madison, before dropping a 10-6 decision to Vermillion’s Dylyn Wagner.
In Flight 1 doubles, Mondloch and Harvey, the No. 8 seed, lost 6-3, 6-0 to Madison’s S. Maxwell and C. Sahr and 10-4 to St. Thomas More’s E. Strand and J. Oaks.
In Flight 3 doubles, No. 8 Roberts and Baker lost 6-2, 6-3 to Milbank’s K. Schwandt and R. Lavallee, then 10-2 to Lennox’s K. Bosma and P. Herlyn.
Looking ahead
Spearfish graduates Mondloch and Baker, but four of its six state singles players are eligible to return next fall: sophomores Harvey and Schutz, junior Alderson and freshman Roberts.