FAIRMONT – The resurgence of the Albert Lea High School girls’ tennis team was displayed during the regular season, the Big Nine tournament and the Section 2AA team tourney.

Monday, October 08, 2001

FAIRMONT – The resurgence of the Albert Lea High School girls’ tennis team was displayed during the regular season, the Big Nine tournament and the Section 2AA team tourney.

Add the section individual tournament to the list.

The Tigers performed well in Saturday’s competition at Fairmont, winning matches at two of four positions.

&uot;It was a good day,&uot; said coach Sean Gillam. &uot;We played real well again. We saw the girls play with a lot of aggression and a lot of good focused energy; they were really into each of the points.&uot;

Danielle Jacobs, seeded sixth at No. 1 singles, defeated the 11th seed from Worthington 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round, then fell 6-0, 6-0 to the third-seeded player from Mankato East.

Ashley Helgerson and Nicole Rafdal, seeded No. 8 at No. 2 doubles, topped a Worthington duo 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 before facing the top-seeded team. They played well, taking a 4-3 lead in the first set, but wound up losing 6-4, 6-4.

The Tigers’ No. 1 doubles team of Mandy Blenka and Jasey Porter was seeded sixth and dropped a marathon three-setter to the 11th-seeded team from Mankato East – which was deceiving.

&uot;Those girls played No. 1 and 2 singles during the season, so they were seeded low,&uot; said Gillam.

Blenka and Porter lost 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 7-5.

The Tigers’ other entry, Liz Schreiber, was defeated 6-0, 6-0 by a Fairmont player in the first round.

The Tigers continue Section 2AA team play Wednesday at 3:30 at Waseca.