Rochester Mayo’s Claire Loftus, with sister Aoife alongside, accepted congratulations from Blake coach Mike Ach on the doubles state title last season. (Shari L. Gross, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Two Rochester teams hold No. 1 state rankings in high school girls tennis as the postseason arrives.

Rochester Mayo is No. 1 in Class 2A, and Rochester Lourdes is tied for No. 1 with Blake in 1A.

Rochester Mayo, which has reached the state tournament 25 times in 26 seasons but hasn't won it, begins section tournament play Thursday. The finals will be Oct. 10 at Life Time Fitness in Bloomington.

Mayo relies on the Loftus sisters, junior Claire and freshman Aoife, who paired to win the Class 2A doubles championship last season. Claire Loftus is ranked second among Class 2A individuals, and Aoife is ranked fifth.

Lourdes' section tournament also begins Thursday, but Lourdes has a bye and will not compete until Monday. Lourdes is the defending state champion.

State rankings

By the Minnesota Tennis Coaches Association

Class 2A

Team: 1. Rochester Mayo; 2. Edina; 3. Minnetonka; 4. Wayzata; 5. Elk River; 6. Maple Grove; 7. Mounds View; 8. Prior Lake; 9. Roseville; 10. (tie) Eagan, Lakeville North and Lakeville South.

Individual: 1. Cassandra Li, Eagan; 2. Claire Loftus, Rochester Mayo; 3. Ava Nelson, Elk River; 4. Lucy Nabedrick, Wayzata; 5. Aoife Loftus, Rochester Mayo; 6. Kiera Kelly, Lakeville North; 7. (tie) Karina Elvestrom, Minnetonka, and Rashi Singh, Edina; 9. Malea Diehn, Rochester Mayo; 10. (tie) Astrid Kerrman, Edina, and Olivia McDonald, Minneapolis Washburn.

Class 1A

Team: 1. (tie) Blake and Rochester Lourdes; 3. Pine City; 4. Pequot Lakes; 5. Staples-Motley; 6. Osakis; 7. (tie) St. James and Thief River Falls; 9. Crookston; 10. East Grand Forks.

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Individual: 1. Isabelle Einess, Breck; 2. Nana Vang, Blake; 3. Annika Harbetts Ott, Providence Academy; 4. Greta Johnson, Minnehaha Academy; 5. Leah Maddock, Osakis; 6. (tie) Nellie Larson, St. Paul Academy, and Lauren Rutten, Staples-Motley; 8. Isla Dille, Litchfield; 9. Casey Cronin, Holy Family; 10. (tie) Kushi Jain, Mounds Park Academy, and Avery Skaar, Thief River Falls.

about the writer

Kevin Bertels

High school sports team leader

Kevin Bertels has led the Star Tribune’s high school sports coverage since fall 2021. Before that, he spent 23 years as the newspaper’s night Sports section coordinator, placing him in charge of the Sports copy desk.