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It didn’t end with a state title but the Sibley East doubles team of Kayla Trocke and Anna Dreismane proved they could compete with the top high school tennis players in Minnesota.

Trocke and Dreismane won one of two matches in the Class A State Doubles Tournament held Friday and Saturday at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

There appeared to be no issues with nerves for the Lady Wolverines in their opening match. They cruised to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over a team from Park Rapids Area.

“Anna and Kayla started really strong and handled their nerves better than the opponents in the first match,” Sibley East coach Chad Bachman said.

Consistency and a high first serve percentage also fueled the Lady Wolverines in the win. According to Bachman, solid serving helped set up Sibley East’s net game in the opening match.

While they started strong in the first round, it took Trocke and Dreismane a few games to settle down in their quarterfinal match against Carrie Wight and Sarah Whitaker of St. Paul Academy and Summit School.

Bachman said his Wolverines quickly fell behind 3-0 in the quarterfinal match but bounced back to take a 4-3 advantage.

Trocke and Dreismane would maintain a one game lead in the opening set but could not close the deal. Wight and Whitaker eventually won a tie-breaker (7-3) to take the first set. They would cruise to a 6-1 victory in the second set.

“Losing the tie-breaker took away any momentum we had gained in the first set,” Bachman said. “It went downhill after that and our serving throughout that match wasn’t up to par.”

Wight and Whitaker lost to the eventual champions 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals.

Capturing top honors was the St. James senior tandem of Danielle Munsterman and Mallory Shellum. They defeated a sophomore-freshman duo from Mounds Park Academy in the championship match.

Despite the second round setback, Bachman was proud of how Trocke and Dreismane performed. “For the most part, the girls played well and it was a good learning experience,” Bachman said. “It gave the girls a chance to see where other top players in the state are at and it showed what it takes to get to that level.”

Trocke, a junior, and Dreismane, a foreign exchange student, joined forces as a doubles team for the post season. They led the Wolverines in singles play throughout the regular season. Trocke started the 2008 campaign with nine straight victories and finished the season with a team best record of 16-2. Dreismane played primarily #1 singles for Sibley East this season and posted a mark of 11-4.