Gorres, Reedy eliminated in second round

By ANDY ROGERS

Journal Sports Editor

BLOOMINGTON -- New Ulm High's Meghan Reedy and Brittany Gorres advanced to the second round with a win over Elk River, but lost to the defending doubles champions at the 2001 Class 2A doubles competition Thursday.

The duo defeated Elk River 6-4, 6-4 but was shut out by the Amy Kelly and Laurie Alonso from Austin 6-0, 6-0.

"This is the first time I've been a part of a win at state," coach Pat Reedy said. "I've come up here numerous times, but I never had anyone advance."

The team was happy with their performance.

"After the loss, Brittany came up to me and said, 'I felt I played up to my level and we haven't seen that level of play before,'" Pat Reedy said. "(Austin) had forceful serves, great net play and powerful overheads. They didn't make many mistakes."

Meghan Reedy said she hadn't seen that kind of competition all year.

"There was no room for error," she said.

The team knew what they were up against before the match and said they didn't have anything to lose. They were happy to have the opportunity to play Kelly and Alonso.

"We knew they were singles players who were playing doubles so we tried to take advantage of that," Pat Reedy said. "(Gorres and Reedy) were excited to play that caliber of kids. I think if they didn't play up to their abilities they'd be disappointed. Competitors like a challenge."

Pat Reedy said he wanted the Austin duo to work for points.

"I told them to come up to the net and play aggressive like they did against Elk River," Pat Reedy said. "But they weren't able to break in."

Austin proved to be a tough, aggressive opponent. A good hit by New Ulm would be answered by another good hit from Austin.

"We needed to play aggressively but we backed off a bit at times," Pat said. "They actually make fewer mistakes when they play aggressively."

After falling behind early in the second set, the duo moved closer to the net and had some success.

"I told them to put on some net pressure and they were successful with it," Pat said.

Gorres said she was happy to win the first match and wasn't disappointed at all with the match against Austin.

"It was a good way to end our high school careers," Gorres said.