Tennis team falls to Osakis in 6A semis

The Benson girls tennis team was eliminated with a 4-3 loss to Osakis in the Section 6A semifinals last Wednesday at Fitness Evolution in Sartell.
The Braves closed out the team portion of their season with a 16-3 overall record, which included a 7-1 WCC record, good enough for second place.
Osakis also beat Benson in the regular-season finale one week earlier by a 5-2 score.  Two of Benson’s three losses this season were 4-3 decisions and the other was the 5-2 loss to Osakis.
Minnewaska Area, which edged Benson earlier this year (4-3) to win the WCC title, went on to earn its second-straight state tournament berth with a 6-1 win over Osakis in the Section 6A finals.
The Braves still finished with one of the best overall records in BHS tennis history.  Only once has a girls tennis team finished with less losses than the three Benson had this year and that was in 2009 when the Braves finished 22-2 overall after winning the WCC title and qualifying to state where they suffered their only two losses of the season.
And, only seven times in school history has a Benson girls tennis team finished with more wins, most recently in 2010 (19-5), 2009 (22-2), 2008 (22-6), and 2006 (20-4).
This year’s 16-3 overall record gives the Benson girls tennis program its 11th winning season in the past 13 years of tennis.
Minnewaska Area was seeded first, due to its victory over Osakis earlier this fall, while Osakis was second, Benson was third, LQP-DB was fourth, Montevideo was fifth, Morris was sixth, YME was seventh, and MACCRAY was eighth.
The Section 6A Individual Girls Tennis Tournament is set for Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 17-18 at Fitness Evolution.  Playing for Benson will be Kellie Enderson and Rose McDonald in singles, and Katie Samuelson, Gracie Grussing, Olivia Vergin, and Grace Ricard in doubles.
The top two entries in singles and doubles qualify for the Minnesota State Girls Tennis Tournament, which is set for Oct. 25-28 at the Read-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis...
 
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Pictured: Olivia Hoffman (left) and Rose McDonald (right) compete at a recent home match for the Braves, who fell to Osakis, 4-3, in the Section 6A Team Tourney at Sartell.  Up this week is the Section 6A Individual Tourney.