The Pierre Governor tennis team had a strong showing through day one of the state tournament on Monday. Four Govs in five flights still have a shot at winning a state championship heading into the second day.
Blake Judson and Carter Schulz in flights two and six won both matches today to advance to the state semifinals. Judson had to win a tie breaker in the quarterfinals as it goes down as an upset as Judson is the fifth seed beating Yankton’s Ryan Schulte the four seed. Schulz lost just two games in the first match and then swept his opponent, also an upset, in the quarterfinals without dropping a game. Both will compete against the top seeds to open up play on Tuesday.
Spencer Kelly and Luke Leingang had to win just one match in their respective singles flight, four and five, to advance to the semifinals. The two also teamed up and won both matches in doubles to advance to the state semifinals. Both swept their way in singles and then had to come back in the quarterfinals after dropping the first set 7-5, won the second set 6-0 and the tiebreaker 10-6. Doubles flight one (Matt Hanson and Judson) and flight three (Devin Dodson and Crew Heier) both will be in the fifth place bracket to open the day on Tuesday. Both Hanson and Dodson were eliminated after winning in the first round in singles flights one and three respectively. The Governors are currently in fourth place as a team with a 224 while Mitchell leads with an even 300.
Emily Williamson, head coach of the Pierre Governors, says the Govs had a great day and nice draws from the singles side…
With both Kelly and Leingang advancing to the semifinals in singles and doubles flights, Williamson is proud of their effort on day one even though she was unable to watch them in the singles competitions…
Williamson says it’s key to continue to work hard on the second day…
You can see brackets by clicking on the link below. The second and final day begins at 9:00 AM Central time in Rapid City.
State Tournament Brackets and Team Scores
