MINNEAPOLIS — The Litchfield Dragons’ girls tennis team makes its sixth consecutive Class A state tennis tournament appearance on Tuesday.

An older team with experience, the Dragons have 11 seniors leading by example for a program searching for its first-ever team Class A state title.

That leadership will be put to the test when Litchfield begins its state run at 2 p.m. against Staples-Motley at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center.

“Our goal is always just to make it past the first round,” Litchfield senior Ryanna Steinhaus said. “I think for all of us, we want to at least come home with some type of hardware. It would just be really exciting.”

Litchfield finished its 2022 campaign with an 18-5 overall record.

Across their three Section 6A playoff matches, the Dragons dropped one game.

Litchfield defeated Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 7-0, Minnewaska 7-0 and Osakis 6-1 in the Section 6A championship to punch their ticket into the state tournament.

“This season we had a tougher schedule than last season, but I think it really prepared us for our section and now with us going to state,” Steinhaus said. “We had some really good competition — we played a lot of (Class) AA schools. I think it made us prepare better for our section and then we won, so it worked.”

Earlier this season, the Dragons faced Osakis and

came out with a 4-3 tiebreaker win on Sept. 6

.

Dragons head coach Matt Draeger felt his girls left that match with a sour taste in their mouths. The close match acted as a turning point in Litchfield’s season.

“The girls know they didn’t play up to their expectations. All of them took it personally,” Draeger said. “They all had a chip on their shoulder the rest of the year. I didn’t think we played poorly at all after that match.

“You can look at the 4-3 match and say, ‘we struggled,’ or you can look at it and say, ‘we need to get better,’ and (the latter) is how our girls approached it.”

For Draeger’s Dragons, the focus is on themselves no matter their opponent. They know no opponent at state can be taken lightly.

Their first goal, winning one match, comes against Staples-Motley.

If the Dragons advance past Staples-Motley, they face the winner of Breck and St. James. A potential 2021 Class A state championship rematch could be seen in the semifinals.

“Right now, we’re going to worry about Staples-Motley. We can’t overlook anyone,” Draeger said. “We need to keep ourselves sharp, going out there and playing like we can and seeing what happens.”

In addition to the team qualifying, eighth-grader Isla Dille will compete in singles, and Steinhaus and sophomore teammate Karlee Prahl will compete as a doubles pairing in the Class A state tennis individual tournament beginning Thursday.

Dille punched her individual ticket to state after taking second-place in the Section 6A tournament.

She lost to Osakis’ Leah Maddock on Oct. 18

.

Unseeded in the singles bracket, Dille faces Pipestone’s Toryn Woelber in the first round at 8 a.m Thursday.

“Isla works really hard at tennis,” Draeger said. “There’s no one that works at the game more than her. She’s improved. It’s fun to watch her play one singles players and have some success.”

Steinhaus and Prahl punched their individual tickets into the state tournament

with a 6-0, 6-1 win over New London-Spicer’s Brooke Adelman and Delaney Hanson on Oct. 18

.

Ranked as the No. 4 seed, Steinhaus and Prahl take on Fairmont’s double pairing of Hope Klanderud and Anika Haugen at 10 a.m.

Although Steinhaus and Prahl will act as the top two singles players for Litchfield during team play, the two will unite in search of a state title.

The duo played doubles together over the summer. They felt they had a strong connection on the court and a shot at winning their section in hopes of placing at state.

“Karlee and I have always had our plan to play with each other in doubles,” Steinhaus said. “I really like to use my forehand and she loves to use her backhand. That really combines well together for playing doubles. We just work really well together.”

It will be Litchfield’s seventh appearance at the state tournament since it transitioned into Class A competition in 2005. Will it be seven times the charm for the Dragons this year?

“A lot of us have been to state for a few years now and we’ve missed that first-place spot a few times,” Steinhaus said of the senior class. “It would mean a lot for all of us to come home with first place in our last year of playing.”

Suffering a loss in the Section 6A championship against Steinhaus and Prahl, New London-Spicer’s Adelman and Hanson qualified for the state tournament with their second-place finish.

The Wildcats’ doubles pairing will face Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg’s doubles pairing of junior Elise Duncan and freshman Greta Multhauf at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Benson/KMS also has one of their singles players competing individually in sophomore Elle Kletscher. Kletscher will compete against fifth-seeded Osakis’ Maddock at 8 a.m. Thursday.

Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson Boyd sends the doubles pairing of Claire Lowry and Kayla Jahn to the state tournament. The two will take on Rochester Lourdes’ Elyse Palen and Caroline Daly at 10 a.m. Thursday.

– Rochester Lourdes vs. Pine City
– Luverne vs. Providence Academy
– St. James vs. Breck
– Litchfield vs. Staples-Motley

– No. 1 Isabelle Einess, Breck, vs. Annika Harberts Ott, Providence Academy
– Addison Armstrong, Blue Earth, vs. Addison Sell, Pine City
– No. 5 Leah Maddock, Osakis, vs. Elle Kletscher, Benson/KMS
– No. 4 Lauren Rutten, Staples-Motley, vs. Olivia Moore, Winona Cotter
– No. 2 Ryann Witter, Rochester Lourdes, vs. Ronnie Noska, Staples-Motley
– Chloe Brandt, Le Sueur-Henderson, vs. Olivia Dutton, Blue Earth
– Toryn Woelber, Pipestone, vs. Isla Dille, Litchfield
– No. 3 Ella Sell, Pine City, vs. Freya Rahm, Mounds Park Academy

– No. 1 Petra Lyon/Witt Mehbod, Breck, vs. Mickey Clark/Macy Goochey, Park Rapids
– Lisey Langhus/Katelyn Clements, Providence Academy, vs. Meredith Boettcher/Danica Mark, Duluth Marshall
– No. 5 Elyse Palen/Caroline Daly, Rochester Lourdes, vs. Claire Lowry/Kayla Jahn, LQPV/D-B
– No. 4 Ryanna Steinhaus/Karlee Prahl, Litchfield, vs. Hope Klanderud/Anika Haugen, Fairmont
– No. 2 Allison Unverzagt/Sophia Lahti, Pine City, vs. Courtney Eppen/Josie Schmidt, Belle Plaine
– Elise Duncan/Greta Multhauf, Benson/KMS, vs. Delaney Hanson/Brooke Adelman, NLS
– Halle Winjum/Emma Gunderson, Crookston, vs. Allison Bluedorn/Keyana Haler, St. James
– No. 3 Greta Johnson/Chloe Alley, Minnehaha Academy, vs. Taylor Elliott/Erin Witter, Rochester Lourdes