Three years ago, this was still just a goal to pursue.

After Rochester Mayo won its third straight girls tennis state championship Wednesday with a 5-2 victory over Minnetonka at the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center, the Spartans can officially call themselves a dynasty in the making.

“Not officially a dynasty,” Spartans head coach Jeff Demaray said. “When I think of a dynasty, I think of Edina, winning every year from 1997 to 2019, winning every single one but one. But yes, we’ve had great success over the last three years.”

The reason? The Spartans pay the price. Every player on the team, with one exception, plays a heavy schedule of USTA tennis. When the high school season rolls around, they’re battle-tested. High school tennis is a chance to alleviate a little pressure and spend a few months playing tennis with their school friends.

“I play a lot of tennis to prepare for this,” said junior Malea Diehn, the Spartans’ No. 1 singles player. “My improvement slows down a little [during the high school season], but improvement fluctuates.”

Senior Ana Medina, who transferred to Mayo from Rochester Lourdes after eighth grade, said the benefits of playing high school tennis outweigh anything that might be gained against USTA competition.

“We push each other to get better every day because the bar is so high,” Medina said. “We have so many quality players, every day you’re thinking ‘How can I get better?’ It’s beneficial for all of us.”

And the players agree: High school tennis is a different kind of fun.

“This is my senior year, and I’m just soaking it all in,” Medina said. “This has been so much fun.”

“It’s a lot to live up to,” Diehn said of the Spartans’ journey to the top of the girls’ tennis mountain. “But it’s definitely motivating.”

JIM PAULSEN

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1/5

Class 2A: Rock Ridge becomes a champion

The Rock Ridge players thought about it on the bus ride: A championship would be the first for any Rock Ridge athletics program.

“That’s so cool to be the first team in the books of winning state,” Rock Ridge freshman Alice Johnson said. “Not a lot of teams get to be in this position.”

A couple of upsets later, the No. 4 seed Wolverines defeated No. 3 seed and two-time defending state champion Blake to win the Class 2A girls tennis team championship Wednesday at Life Time Bloomington South.

Johnson’s 6-4, 7-5 win in the No. 3 singles match clinched it, giving her team a 6-1 victory. After match point, cheers echoed in the tennis dome, and happy tears flowed.

“As soon as the team rushed the court, I think then it hit her that that was the fourth point,” Rock Ridge co-head coach Jess Johnson said.

This is the first time Rock Ridge has advanced to the state tournament since the program (a combination of Eveleth-Gilbert and Virginia school districts) formed in 2022. Virginia won the Class 1A championship in 1989.

Rock Ridge also upset top seed Mahtomedi in the semifinals, 7-0. The Wolverines finished the season with a 26-1 record.

“We came in with some nerves,” Rock Ridge co-head coach Kortney Rosati said. “I think after that first match … the nerves settled in, we got more comfortable and the girls just were confident in their skills.”

Blake hoped for a three-peat of state championships; the Bears opted up to Class 2A in the first year of a three-class tournament. Blake coach Mike Ach was impressed with Rock Ridge in the title match.

“They’re just deep,” he said. “They’re solid all the way through their lineup. It’s kind of like we are, but they were just a little bit better today.”

HEATHER RULE

Class 1A: St. James wins

St. James got the last point of the Class 1A championship match, defeating No. 4 Litchfield 4-3 at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center.

After winning three of the four singles matches, the second-seeded Saints needed to win just one of the doubles matches to clinch the title. The Nos. 2 and 3 Saints pairs lost, creating a must-win match for the No. 1 doubles team of Alivia Romsdahl and Ellie Anderson.

“I didn’t know we were [tied 3-3],” Romsdahl said. “I knew the doubles next to us lost, and I see them crying on the bench. Then I see [a teammate], and she was crying and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, did we lose?’ But then everyone started gathering around us and I was like, ‘I think this is the final point.’ Our coaches never tell us the point. [I figured out it was the deciding match] because not only was [one] side of the court crowded, but [also] the other side. And not only was our team cheering, their team is cheering. It was so loud. The tensions were high. That’s what made it click that this is the final point.”

St. James held a 4-1 lead early in the third set but surrendered four straight points. The Dragons’ lead pair of Elly Woelfel and Marcella Bruning had three straight match points to win it.

“They won five in a row. That was outstanding, what I would call an outstanding never-give-up attitude,” St. James co-head coach Les Zellmann said. “To be able to manage that stress, wow. I must say they are better people than most of us.”

Romsdahl and Anderson stayed with it to even the match 5-5. Woelfel and Bruning took another point, but the Saints duo took the last two games to win the set and the match, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

JOE GUNTHER