Fall Sports: St. Michael-Albertville Girls' Tennis Rolls Out Fall Season

The St. Michael-Albertville girls' tennis team provided veteran coach Jim Riles with a bit of drama out of the gates last week, opening the season with a dramatic 4-3 win over Section 5AA rival Park Center in the opening round of Monday's home tournament.

St. Michael had wins from Breanna Hagerty and Kiana Eyestad on the singles court, plus a doubles win from the duo of Kylie Slavin and Halley Fritze, but sophomore Jessica Duda was still on the court.

She rolled to a 6-3, 6-1 win, and the Knights advanced.

STMA fell to Annandale, 4-3, in the semis, but bounced back to romp Apolloo 5-2 and finish in second place for the event.

The Knights are replacing eight seniors from a team that was pretty strong last season, but fell short of some goals.

This year, led by junior Cierra Eystad at No. 1 singles and captains Hagerty, Duda and Slavin, the squad is hoping to make some noise in its new section.

"We've had a real good first week. This is a group of girls that isn't afraid to put in the work," Riles said. "It's a tough, new section. Mounds View is lights out, one of the best in the state. We also have Centennial, Coon Rapids and Totino-Grace in there. So it's deep."

In the conference Riles said Buffalo is the squad to beat, and STMA should challenge with Monticello and Rogers for one of the other top spots.

"We could surprise some people," he said. "We have some really strong doubles teams out there. And if Cierra and Kiana can continue to grow, with Breanna and Jess in the middle, our singles should be set."

The Knights continue the 2011 campaign Thursday (tomorrow) at Spring Lake Park. They'll host another Section 5 opponent in Anoka Monday at the Middle School West courts. Matches start at 4 p.m.