Rahrick, Huskies down Fairbault

After starting the season with three meets on the road, the Owatonna girls’ tennis team held the first of two home matches Tuesday at the Owatonna High School tennis courts.  Powered by strong matches from singles players Emily Rahrick and Alissa Weide, the Lady Huskies swept Fairbault 7-0 in a Big Nine conference match.
“I thought overall we played very well and had a good a balance of consistency and aggressiveness,” said head coach Curt Matejcek. 
No. 1 singles Emily Rahrick, who went 3-0 at the Waseca round robin, swept Fairbault’s Maddy Drevlow in straight sets (6-0,6-0). No.2 and No. 3 singles Alissa Weide and Sara Anderson also made quick work of their opponents, winning in straight sets  (6-0, 6-0) as well. 
Anderson-recently promoted to No.3 singles-managed to keep her record at a perfect 11-0 on the season. First time varsity performer Grace Simon saw herself in a battle with Fairbault’s Franziska Kuupe. Matejcek said that it was a barnburner. 
“She played her first varsity match that was two long and grueling sets and finally won in a third set tiebreaker,” he said. 
Grace would win in three sets (7-4, 3-6, 10-5). 
As for the Owatonna doubles squad, there were exchanges of points from both squads, but the Lady Huskies managed to win in straight sets. Top pair Caitlin Anderson and Gabi Deml kicked off the doubles matches with a 6-2, 6-0 win over the pair of Emily and Sarah Kendell. 
No. 2 Macy Voss and Katie Segler won in straight sets 6-1,6-3 over Abby Goodwin and Erica Johnson. The final match of the afternoon was the No. 3 doubles duo of Maragret Schlicker and Annabelle Paquin winning 6-1,6-2. 
With Northfield coming to town for the final home match of the week, Matejcek said that today’s matches were a good preview of what is to come on Thursday.
“I thought Fairbault had some really good athletes, and that will be the case with Northfield,” he said. 
Matejcek went on to say that in two matches last year, that both teams had competitive matches, with each team taking home a victory. He said he expects the same this season. 
“I anticipate another close match this year if we play well,” he added.