Mandan defeats Dickinson 9-0 in girls tennis

MANDAN — The Dickinson girls tennis team had a difficult start to its season on Tuesday.

Mandan blanked the Midgets 9-0 in a West Region dual. The Midgets won just two sets on the day.

Dickinson’s Lindsey Bakken gave Shelby Gustafson a run at No. 4 singles before falling 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

Gustafson and Heather Ripplinger fought off Alex Simonieg and Mariah Jorda 6-7 (4-6), 6-4, 7-6 (6-4) at No. 2 singles.

“The mistakes I’m seeing are early season mistakes,” Dickinson coach James Kramer said. “We just need to get more consistent with ground strokes and volleys. Way too many points left on the court. By the end of the season, they’ll clean that up and be more consistent.”

The Midgets host Bismarck Century at 3 p.m. Thursday.

Singles: 1, Cayla Cordova, M, def. Brooke Lietzke 7-6 (7-4), 6-1. 2, Amanda Hillstrom, M, def. Sydney Smutzler, 6-0, 6-2. 3, Catie Cordova, M, def. Alex Simonieg, 6-1, 6-2. 4, Shelby Gustafson, M, def. Lindsey Bakken, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. 5, Heather Ripplinger, M, def. Mariah Jorda, M, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5). 6, Kaitlyn Slaviek, M, def, Reanna Peterson, 7-5, 6-3.

Doubles: 1, Cayla Cordova/Hillstrom, M, def. Lietzke/Bakken, 6-1, 6-3. 2, Gustafson/Ripplinger, M, def. Simonieg/Jorda, 6-7 (4-6), 6-4, 7-6 (6-4). 3, Catie Cordova/Catie Slavick, M, def. Smutzler/Peterson, 6-2, 6-3.

Tags: dickinson midgets, sports, tennis, preps