Huskies Girls Tennis Hopes to Play for Trip to State Tuesday

Owatonna has advanced to the Section 1AA girls tennis finals in each of the last four years, losing to Rochester Mayo each time. The Huskies face a formidable obstacle in Tuesday morning's semifinals to get another chance at the title.

No. 2 seed OHS (19-1) plays No. 6 seed Northfield at 9AM at the Rochester Athletic Club. The winner plays either No. 1 Mayo or No. 4 Century in the finals at 1PM Tuesday. Mayo has won 20 of the last 21 section crowns.

Huskies coach Curt Matejcek knows his team will have a battle with Northfield, who Owatonna beat 4-3 early in the season when the Raiders No. 1 singles player had to stop playing due to injury. The Raiders swept the Huskies in doubles. Matejcek was not surprised that Northfield beat No. 3 seed Lakeville North in the quarterfinals and said getting a win somewhere in doubles will be a key.

Matejcek was recently named the Big Nine girls tennis coach of the year. He credits the girls for their hard work in putting together such a great season.