Rochester Mayo girls tennis coach Jeff Demaray has been a fixture at the tennis state tournament for the better part of three decades, coaching the Spartans to 26 appearances in the past 27 years.
Until Wednesday, he'd never gone home a champion.
Mayo completed a wire-to-wire run as the top girls tennis team in Minnesota, completing an undefeated season (26-0) with a 6-1 victory over Edina for the Class 2A team championship.
Edina, playing in the team finals for the first time since winning its last title in 2019, didn't make it easy.
The Hornets, the most successful program in state history, fell behind early and trailed 3-0 before their remaining players stiffened their resistance. At one point, it appeared possible that they could rally back to win.
But the Spartans never wobbled. They got their fourth team point, the clincher, when sophomore Ana Medina closed out a 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 victory at No. 4 singles. Medina admitted she didn't realize her match was so vital to the victory.
"I had no idea, but it does feel really, really good," Medina said through a broad smile. "This is something we've been focused on all year."
Mayo had plenty of support to lean on during the team tournament. Two buses were chartered to haul fans to the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, and those fans made their presence felt, cheering loudly for every Mayo success, singing the school fight song after the victory and running through a litany of cheers after the awards ceremony.
"This team deserved this because they worked so hard, not just during the season but during the offseason," Demaray said. "And we had the support from all those fans. It was just awesome for the tennis family at Mayo to finally achieve a team state championship."
Junior Claire Loftus, Mayo's No. 1 singles player and one of the top players in the state, allowed herself a moment of glee, setting aside her normal calmness and gushing about what the Spartans had accomplished.
"It's amazing to be the team that finally did this," she said. "With the kind of support we had, to think about the history of MGT [Mayo girls tennis] and this being the first time, it just means so much to all of us."
Class 1A
The chance of a Rochester sweep of the two girls tennis team championships fell by the wayside when Blake beat defending champion Rochester Lourdes 5-2 to win the Class 1A title.
Lourdes went into the tournament as the No. 1 seed, but Blake proved to be the better team, winning three of four singles matches and two of three doubles matches.
Blake senior Nana Vang set the tone, clobbering Lourdes' Caroline Daly 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. Seventh-grader Sienna Szerda won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles, and the Bears cruised thereafter.
Blake closed out four of its five victories in straight sets.
It's the 14th girls tennis state championship for Blake, which finished its season 13-7.
