Mandan's Sophia Felderman, Valley City duo take state tennis titles
Jun. 3—GRAND FORKS — It wasn't the blue bloods coming out on top Saturday at the North Dakota state girls tennis tournament.
Mandan's Sophia Felderman won the state singles crown to give the Braves their first state singles champion since 1985, while Valley City's Breck Sufficool and Abby Martineck won the state doubles title to give the Hi-Liners their first state doubles champions since 1991.
Felderman beat Paige McCormick of Fargo Davies 6-4, 6-2, while Sufficool and Martineck beat Bismarck Legacy's Aleah McPherson and Chelsa Krom 6-3, 6-3 at Choice Health and Fitness.
"I think she played phenomenal," Mandan coach Paul Christen said. "That's probably one of the best matches she's played all year. She made great decisions. She's put a lot of time in and stuck with the game plan of playing to her strengths and being aggressive."
Felderman, a junior, finished fifth in state singles last season. She was the only Mandan player to qualify for the state tournament.
"I had good placement with my ball and made smart decisions coming to the net at correct times," Felderman said. "I put a lot of work in during the offseason. We had an indoor bubble built in Mandan, so I was able to play with all sorts of different people and that really helped me get better. I'm so excited. My sister made me cry because she was proud. The hard work all paid off in the end."
The Valley City junior duo started to play together just this season.
"Abby and Breck move forward so well together and put pressure on the other team," Valley City coach Matt Nielson said. "They were the more aggressive team, which led to the victory today. We started them together a third of the way through the season and found success right away. We kept rolling with it, and they decided they wanted to play together."
Valley City's last state doubles champions were Susan Umsted and Brenda Ament in 1991. Susan (Umsted) Kringlie is now an assistant with Valley City's girls tennis program.
"It's really come full circle there," Nielson said.
Sufficool said aggressiveness was the key against Legacy.
"Taking over the net was a big one," Sufficool said. "Both of us are powerful at the net."
The title came as a surprise to Martineck.
"I can't believe it," Martineck said. "If you would have told me at the beginning of the season, I wouldn't have believed you. I couldn't hit a ground stroke. (The key to growth throughout the year) was positivity and telling myself I could do it."
