Beavers tennis team drops opener to St. Cloud State

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Feb. 6, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Reva Howe didn't start her coaching career with a bang, but the Beaver women's tennis team at least gave her something to smile about in a gritty 6-3 loss to much larger St. Cloud State University Friday at BSU.

Renee Perry, the Beavers' leading singles player, led the team with a 6-3, 6-2 win over the Huskies' Talley Joe Satterlee and a 8-5 doubles win with partner Marti Hendrickson over SCSU's Satterlee and Maria Ritchie.

BSU's Shannon Trepanier, a former Bemidji High Lumberjack, gained the only other Beavers win with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 upending of St. Cloud's Sara Ruedebusch.

But the three wins were a marked improvement for the Beavers, which finished sixth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference last season.

Versus the Huskies last year, the Beavers were blanked 9-0.

"We really felt it was a good first start," said Howe, a first-year coach on the collegiate level. "They were much stronger against St. Cloud this year than last year."

Howe added that she was happy with much of the team's mechanics considering it was their first match, and she was especially happy with the Beavers' serving.

"The serving looked good, but they each played such a different kind of game," she added. "This (was) my very first match. So I don't really know how to compare things."

Howe will be assisted by first-year BSU coach Aldin Polonyi, a former collegiate tennis player.

Next week the Beavers will host NSIC foe Winona State at home Saturday at 9 a.m.