There was nothing funny about the situation Lincoln Southeast's Karlee Long and Julia Otte found themselves in at the Class A girls state tennis tournament Thursday at Koch Family Tennis Center.
RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2008 7:00 pm
OMAHA — There was nothing funny about the situation Lincoln Southeast’s Karlee Long and Julia Otte found themselves in at the Class A girls state tennis tournament Thursday at Koch Family Tennis Center.
Trailing 5-4 in the third set of a No. 1 doubles match after winning the first set 6-0 is definitely some serious stuff that can put a dour look on your face.
Despite all that, Long and Otte were joking with each other on the changeover at 5-4, even though they were one game from elimination. Their smiles were even bigger after they reeled off the next three games and pulled out a 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 quarterfinal victory against Lincoln Southwest’s Ashley Janssen and Kinsley Fisher, the No. 6 seeds.
“We were telling each other jokes on the changeover to get ourselves laughing and relieve the pressure a little bit,” Long said. “We know when we have fun we play so much better. I was thinking ‘We’re only down one game, we can do this.’ ’’
Otte and Long, the No. 3 seeds with a 17-3 record, are the only Lincoln players remaining in the Class A tournament. They face the Omaha Westside sister combination of Breanna and Lauren Keller, the No. 2 seeds, in a 9 a.m. semifinal today. The championship matches are slated for 1 p.m.
Long, a junior, and Otte, a sophomore, had split two previous matches this season against Southwest. They knew the first set was an anomaly, and that the match would be more difficult in the second set.
“They’re too good of a team just to let go,” Otte said of Southwest. “We just can’t breeze through them, I knew they’d hold on and play tough.”
Southeast’s late run capped off a see-saw third set in which Janssen and Fisher led 3-2, only to see the Knights win the next two games and take a 4-3 advantage. The momentum switched again as the Silver Hawks’ duo took two straight games to lead 5-4.
“At that point, something had to happen to loosen things up because both teams were feeling it (the pressure),’’ Southeast coach Tim Tidball said. “I had to remind them ‘Don’t go on the court afraid to lose. When you play loose, that’s when you play your best tennis.’ ’’
Southwest coach Denny Hershberger was pleased with how Fisher and Janssen rebounded after the first set shutout.
“They could’ve given up, but instead they started playing controlled, aggressive tennis and put themselves in a position to win,’’ Hershberger said. “Give Southeast credit, they did a nice job of closing it out. They picked their level of play up and took control of the net at the end.’’
Pre-meet favorite Omaha Marian held a 34-32 advantage over Omaha Westside atop the team race after the first day. All three of Marian’s semifinalists are undefeated this season — freshman Brooke Urzendowski at No. 1 singles (27-0), Anna Kirshenbaum and Kathleen Schuele at No. 1 doubles (22-0) and Caroline Nelsen and Kara Schuele at No. 2 doubles (20-0).
Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.