Samantha Minor’s run to the state tournament ended in cold, windy conditions at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield Friday. Minor lost two matches to St. Louis-area players to wrap up her season.
Her first loss, on an indoor court, was to Haleigh Chobanian of Lafayette, 6-2 6-0. In the first set, Minor opened strong, holding serve in her first two games. But from there, Chobanian used her powerful ground strokes to take over. She broke Minor twice in a row to win the first set handily.
Chobanian broke Minor’s serve to open the second set. Minor pushed Chobanian to deuce in the second game, but couldn’t break back, and from there, Chobanian closed it out.
Minor’s second match, in the consolation bracket, was against Jenny Krause of Lee’s Summit North. Playing outdoors in 40-degree temperatures and whipping wind, both players were conservative, trying to avoid mistakes. Minor won the first set, 6-1, and seemed to have all the momentum. But Krause didn’t quit. She took advantage of mistakes by Minor early in the set, and evened the match with a 6-1 win in the second.
Coach Eric Hanson says the mistakes early in the second played a big role in the outcome.
“Sam had the momentum, and she looked really good,” says Hanson. “She had a couple of bad games, got broken, and it was a confidence issue.”
Krause broke Minor’s serve again to start the third set, but Minor broke back to even the match at 4-4. Again, Krause answered. She immediately broke Minor’s serve again to take a 5-4 lead, then served out the match.
This was Minor’s second consecutive trip to the state tournament.
