Saints, wind dismantle DHS

• Brooke Lietzke

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson High senior Brooke Lietzke returns a volley from Bismarck St. Mary’s sophomore Caitlin Bakke on Thursday at the DHS tennis courts. St. Mary’s swept the West Region dual 9-0.

Talk about it

The wind was gusting upwards of 45 mph Thursday.

Still, the Dickinson High and Bismarck St. Mary’s girls tennis coaches made the decision to play outside.

St. Mary’s overcame the windy conditions to take a 9-0 sweep in a West Region dual at the DHS tennis courts.

“It was one of those days that you hope the girls mentally show up in weather like this,” Dickinson head coach James Kramer said. “They played hard in some pretty adverse conditions.”

Kramer and St. Mary’s coach Sandy Wald-Clooten wanted this type of dual early in the season.

“When you get into WDA and the state tournament at the end of the year, they don’t cancel or move them inside because it’s a little windy,” Kramer said. “It’s a good match to get the girls acclimated to some adverse weather.”

Dickinson’s Mariah Jorda was the only player to take the match to three sets at No. 5 singles against Erin Benz, who won the match 6-1, 5-7, 10-3.

However, the Midgets did see some life in doubles. The No. 1 doubles team of Brooke Lietzke and Lindsey Bakken challenged the Saints’ Caitlin Bakke and Mary Roller, who placed third at the state tournament last year, before falling 10-6.

At No. 2 doubles, Alicia Beck and Tori Brucker edged Alex Simonieg and Jorda for an 11-9 win.

“I thought the top two doubles teams played really well,” Kramer said.

The Midgets are reaching the midpoint in the season and Kramer said the top priority is becoming more consistent. Dickinson will try to bring that consistency when it travels to Minot at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

“We hope that they are cutting down on the unforced errors,” Kramer said. “You want to keep it in play as much as you can. I think we just need to be a more consistent team.”

Singles: 1, Caitlin Bakke, SM, def. Brooke Lietzke, 6-1, 6-1. 2, Alicia Beck, SM, def. Sydney Smutzler, 6-1, 6-2. 3, Mary Roller, SM, def. Alex Simonieg, 6-0, 6-0. 4, Mariya Krumm, SM, def. Lindsey Bakken, 6-2, 6-4. 5, Erin Benz, SM, def. Mariah Jorda, 6-1, 5-7, 10-3. 6, Tori Brucker, SM, def. ReAnna Peterson, 6-2, 6-3.

Doubles: 1, Bakke/Roller, SM, def. Lietzke/Bakken, 10-6. 2, Beck/Brucker, SM, def. Simonieg/Jorda, 11-9. 3, Krumm/Benz, SM, def. Smutzler/Meryl Kovacs, 10-2.

Tags: high school tennis, dickinson midgets, sports, tennis