Mitchell won their third straight state ‘A’ girls high school tennis championship on Tuesday in Sioux Falls with a top team score of 499.5. Rapid City Christian (408), Yankton (406.5), Pierre (289), St. Thomas More (249.5), and Huron (195) rounded out the top six teams at the event.
The Kernels won three singles flights and two doubles flights on their way to claiming the state championship, but another key was how they performed across the board. They didn’t finish lower than third place in any of the flights.
“We came in as the favorites and a big target on our back, and we saw a lot of real good tennis and a lot of competition against us,” explained Mitchell girls tennis coach Pat Moller. “High quality pressure competition, and I just have to give our girls credit for being able to withstand that pressure and defend their title.”
Julia Platt (singles flight 4), Sydney Reynolds (singles flight 5) and Megan Mastel (singles flight 6) were the individual state champions for Mitchell in the singles flights, while Amber Moller and Sydney Reynolds won doubles flight 2, and Megan Mastel and Delaney Degen were victorious in doubles flight 3. Atlanta Stahle placed third in singles flight 1, Olivia Huber finished runner-up in singles flight 2, and Amber Moller claimed third in singles flight 3. Stahle and Huber also finished third in doubles flight 1.
Mitchell will graduate four seniors this coming spring, Olivia Huber, Julia Platt, Sydney Reynolds, and Atlanta Stahle.
High school tennis in South Dakota expanded to two-classes in the fall of 2019. Since its implementation, Mitchell has been the only team to have won a state girls title in Class A. For full results of the 2021 ‘A’ girls tennis championships, click here.
McKenna Park in Sioux Falls will also host the Class AA state girls tennis tournament on Thursday and Friday (October 7-8) of this week.
