STATELY CARDINALS — Members of the Fairmont Cardinal girls tennis team opening the Class A state team tournament on Tuesday at the Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis include, front row (left to right): Lauren Davis, Briana Joseph, Rachel O’Connor, Maggy Totzke, Lilly Laven and Abi Peyman. Back row: Head coach Laura Olsen, Claire Nemmers, Libby Totzke, Anika Haugen, Johanna Petschke, Brynn Gustafson, Ellie Hernes, Hope Klanderud and assistant coach Tim Slama. (Photo by Charlie Sorrells)

FAIRMONT — Laura Olsen has experienced both ends of the high school coaching spectrum during her first two seasons at the Fairmont Cardinal girls tennis helm.

During her head coaching debut last fall, rising Covid numbers in Martin County forced the school district to switch to all-distance learning, therefore, shutting down the Cardinals’ program just prior to the start of the sectional tournament.

“Officially, this is my second year as head coach, but last year was not the norm for taking over a program,” Olsen said in reference to her team not being able to even compete in the playoffs. “We (coaching staff) knew, however, a lot of our players had the potential to qualify for state. We could see the improvement in their skills and a change in their overall mindsets.”

Fast forward a year, and Olsen, assistant coach Tim Slama and their Section 2 champion netters literally will deliver the first serve of the 2021 Class A state team girls tennis tournament when they face Section 3 winner Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta in an 8 a.m. quarterfinal Tuesday at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

Rochester Lourdes, the 2019 Class A state runner-up, returns to the Twin Cities for a 10 a.m. quarterfinal against the Breck School, while 2019 third-place winner Litchfield squares off against Pine City at noon on Tuesday. Providence Academy and Crookston cap the opening round in a 2 p.m. quarterfinal.

If Fairmont (18-2) defeats MACA, it would return to the Reed-Sweatt tennis facility at 8 a.m. Wednesday for a championship semifinal dual meet against the winner between Lourdes and Breck.

A Cardinals’ first-round loss would drop them into a 4 p.m. consolation semifinal on Tuesday.

The Class A team consolation final is scheduled for noon Wednesday, with the third-place and state championship meets slated for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. respectively.

“Our long-term goal was to make it to state as a team, but we also had key smaller goals to reach before we got there,” said Olsen, whose lineup became the first Cardinals’ girls tennis team to advance to state since 1994 — a remarkable 27-year void. “I believe clinching the (Big South) conference championship and earning the No. 1 seed in the section team tournament really boosted morale and got our players fired up even more.

“We anticipated early on that St. James would be our main opponent in both conference and section, so we’d have to beat them to reach our goals.”

Fairmont achieved the unthinkable by defeating St. James Area four consecutive times, including once in the BSC finale and later in the Section 2 championship clash, all by down-to-the-wire 4-3 decisions.

“Each time we won over St. James, our wins came from different spots in the lineup and that really demonstrated the skilled depth of our lineup,” said Olsen. “To beat a team four times in the same season in close matches definitely showed our girls’ resiliency and commitment.”

Unlike some of their coaching counterparts, Olsen and Slama maintained confidence in the Cardinals’ “regular” lineup.

“The lineup we’ll play at state was undefeated during the season. The girls are comfortable and confident in it, so we’re not going to change anything at this point,” said Olsen.

Hard-hitting senior Claire Nemmers, who qualified for the 2019 Class A individual state meet, will handle Fairmont’s duties at No. 1 singles, while precision shot-making senior Briana Joseph — a Section 2 singles medalist two years ago — will play at her familiar second singles position.

Joseph assembled the ultimate comeback in singles play to pocket the fourth and meet-winning point over St. James Area during the two rivals’ regular-season clash under the lights on Sept. 13.

The all-out hustling senior Maggy Totzke fills the No. 3 singles position for the Cardinals, while sophomore phenom Abi Peyman rounds out the singles bracket at the No. 4 position.

Peyman delivered the fourth and final point by capturing a three-set marathon match during Fairmont’s victory over St. James Area in the Section 2 team finals at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter on Oct. 7.

Peyman also put the exclamation mark on the Cardinals’ one-point team triumph over the St. James Area Saints in the Big South championship via an incredible three-set comeback win Sept. 28 in St. James.

The athletic No. 1 doubles tandem of Ellie Hernes and Lauren Davis will look to synchronize their hitting skills for the Cardinals, while steady senior Libby Totzke and hard-hitting sophomore Hope Klanderud provide solid groundstrokes at second doubles.

Davis and Hernes displayed their tenacity by combining for the meet-clinching point over St. Peter to garner the Big South East Division championship on Sept. 23.

The steadfast junior duo of Anika Haugen and Johanna Petschke complete Fairmont’s regular starting lineup at the No. 3 doubles spot.

Senior Rachel O’Connor and junior Lilly Laven, along with statistician Brynn Gustafson, will round out the Cardinals’ traveling roster.

So, what’s Olsen, Slama & Company’s approach heading into Tuesday’s 8 a.m. state team quarterfinal meet?

“I briefly looked at their (MACA) schedule and we had one common opponent in Luverne, but I’m going into state with an open mind,” said Olsen. “We have to play our game rather than worry about who’s on the other side of the net.

“It’s you, the ball and an opponent. Stay focused on the match you’re playing no matter who the opponent is.”

Maggy Totzke will then make the transition from singles to the doubles court with twin sibling Libby Totzke during Thursday’s 10 a.m. Class A individual state doubles match at the Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

Totzke and Totzke, the Section 2A doubles gold medalists, face Crookston senior Hayden Winjum and sophomore Halle Winjum in first-round action. The winner advances to face either No. 3-seeded Kylie Michels and Britney Prahl of Litchfield or Katelyn Torrel and Anna Beaudette of Eveleth-Gilbert Area in a 2 p.m. quarterfinal Thursday.

Fairmont’s Ellie Hernes and Lauren Davis square off against Virginia’s Ella Lamppa and Ava Fink in their 10 a.m. state individual doubles opener Thursday. A win would pit Hernes and Davis against either No. 4-seeded Aditi Nadkarni and Witt Mehbod of Breck in a 2 p.m. quarterfinal on Thursday.

In individual singles state play, Blue Earth Area’s Marissa Benz faces top-seeded Isabelle Einess of Minnehaha Academy at 8 a.m. Thursday.

The winner between Benz and Einess would advance to a noon quarterfinal Thursday against either Madison Packer of Wadena-Deer Creek or Ryanna Steinhaus of Litchfield.

Section 2 singles gold medalist Jaelyn Haler of St. James Area faces Le Sueur-Henderson’s Chloe Brandt in Thursday’s 8 a.m. state opener. The winner plays either Rochester Lourdes’ Ryann Witter or Osakis’ Leah Maddock in quarterfinal action.

The Class A individual singles and doubles state meets conclude on Friday at the Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: A send-off for the Class A state-qualifying Fairmont Cardinals girls tennis team will be held at 2:30 p.m. Monday at the Fairmont High School parking lot.