Kernel tennis caps dual season with road win at Watertown
Sep. 23—WATERTOWN — The Mitchell Kernels girls' tennis team capped the regular-season dual schedule on Tuesday with an 8-1 win at Watertown. The Kernels swept all six varsity singles matches to take control of the dual.
In singles play, Megan Mastel won by default in the No. 1 flight. No. 2 Matteah Graves (6-0, 6-4), No. 3 Charlee Cimpl (6-3, 6-3), No. 4 Mia Larson (6-2, 6-3), and No. 6 Ava Prunty (6-4, 6-4) all secured straight-set victories for Mitchell. Elliot Smith battled to win her match in the No. 5 singles spot, winning a third-set tiebreaker with scores of 7-5, 6-7(4), 10-2.
Mitchell continued their success in the doubles portion, winning two of the three matches. The No. 2 team of Katie Morgan and Mia Larson cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win, while the No. 3 duo of Elliot Smith and Ava Prunty earned a 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Watertown's only point of the dual came in a hard-fought No. 1 doubles match. In a marathon contest, Watertown's top pairing of Leyla Meester and Jade Smith outlasted Mitchell's Mastel and Graves with a final score of 4-6, 7-6(4), 14-12.
On Monday, Mitchell dropped a 5-4 dual to Vermillion at the University of South Dakota in which a number of Kernel players got the chance to gain varsity experience. The two teams split the singles matches at 3-all, while the Tanagers won two of the three doubles matches.
Mitchell's victories in singles came from the top of their lineup. In the No. 1 flight, Taryn Bultje secured a 10-4 win, with Charlee Cimpl at No. 3 singles and Sydney Love at No. 4 singles both grinding out 10-8 victories.
In doubles play, the No. 1 pairing of Cimpl and Bultje continued their successful day, earning a 10-8 victory. However, Vermillion came out on top in the remainder of the doubles matches. At No. 2 doubles, Vermillion defeated Mitchell's Harbor Blindauer and Sydney Love in a 10-9(3) tiebreak, and the Tanagers won 8-4 at No. 3 doubles over Bree Rockwell and Frankie Kranz.
Mitchell (13-5 in duals) will play in the Eastern South Dakota Conference meet on Monday, Sept. 29 and Tuesday, Sept. 30 at Yankton in the final competition before the state meet on Oct. 9 and 10 in Sioux Falls.
