Waterloo, Ia (KICD) – It has been a great past few weeks for the Spencer Girls Tennis team.

It started when Spencer hosted the singles and doubles regional tournament on May 6th. Spencer’s Lauren Ellis finished runner-up and thus qualified for the State Singles Tournament.

Ellis will match up with the #1 overall seed Gabi Fleming from Xavier of Cedar Rapids in the first round of the State Tournament. The winner gets either Saydie Roling of Central DeWitt or Merced Ramirez of Red Oak in the Quarterfinals while the loser gets either Kaitlyn Zugay of Ballard or Peyton Klooster of Aplington-Parkersburg in the Consolation 1st round. Ellis felt she earned a higher seed than what she received.

The State Singles Tournament will be played Friday May 24th for the Championship First round and quarterfinals as well as the Consolation first round and Quarterfinals. May 25th will have the Championship semifinals and final as well as the Consolation semifinals and finals.

Team Regionals began in Spencer on May 10th where the Tigers picked up a 5-1 win over Estherville Lincoln Central and upset Spirit Lake 5-2. Ali Graettinger was part of the doubles team that sealed up the Tigers advancement to the Regional Semifinal.

The win over Spirit Lake was big for the Tigers. Spencer had struggled against their rivals during the regular season.

That is Julia Gastelum. Spencer would then face one of the State’s top powers in Columbus Catholic of Waterloo. Spencer would upset the Sailors 5-1 and advance to the State Semifinals. Gastelum talked about the confidence Spencer had going up against such a tough opponent in a big moment.

Graettinger is looking forward to the experience of the State Championships in Waterloo.

Spencer will play Pella at Byrnes Park Tennis Center in Waterloo on May 29th at 8:00AM.