Starting in early 1994, I worked for my first-ever newspaper, The Northern Student, the student newspaper at Bemidji State University, where I attended and received my bachelor's degree in mass communication. Over three years, I would be a staff writer, news editor, managing editor and editor. I wrote everything from news stories to feature stories to sports stories to opinion pieces. It was the greatest training ground a journalist could ever have, and I am grateful to the many talented people I worked alongside in my years at The NS.
April 24, 1996
By Devlyn Brooks
For the six years that Becky O'Keefe has been the head coach of the BSU tennis team, her teams have always had to scratch and fight their way through the season, only to finish in the middle of the pack. However, this season has been different.
The team has notched eight straight wins to finish the regular season, leaving them with an overall record of 8-2 and a conference record of 6-1. They have not lost since March 22 against conference favorite University of Minnesota-Duluth. This has undeniably left the Beavers sitting in second place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference going into the conference championship that is scheduled April 26-28, O'Keefe said.
"This is our best year ever," O'Keefe said. "I know we have had some good years in the past, but this is the most successful team I remember."
The team has shut out three opponents this year, and two of those came against Moorhead State University. Before this year, BSU had never beaten MSU, let alone shut them out once. The second shutout was April 13 when BSU hosted MSU and Southwest State University.
If it was possible to improve over their first win against Moorhead, BSU did. In the first match, four of BSU's singles matches went into the third set. In the second match, there were none.
"The kids hit well and used their heads," O'Keefe said.
Whether it was a stroke of luck, or not, the Dragons were without their No. 1 singles player who was out with an injury. So senior Becki Tlusty started the match by beating the formerly No. 2 singles Dragon 6-2 and 6-3.
The other five singles players followed suit. Renee Perry won in a two-set shutout 6-0 and 6-0. Nicole "Lulu" Spicer had just a little bit less success winning 6-0 and 6-1. No. 4 singles Jessica Daniels won 6-3 and 6-2. No. 5 singles Kari Bowman and No. 6 singles Lisa Kraemer also picked up two-set wins. BSU also swept all three doubles matches 8-2, 8-0 and 9-7.
Later in the day, BSU battled Southwest State. O'Keefe had said before the match it could be tough because Southwest is always a strong, consistent competitor.
Tlusty didn't fare as well as she did against Moorhead, losing 6-1 and 6-1. However, O'Keefe said Tlusty lost to the probable first seed for No. 1 singles in the upcoming conference championship. "Becki didn't play badly," O'Keefe said. "She just ran into some tough competition."
Fourth singles Daniels picked up the only other singles loss against Southwest, losing the first set in a tie-breaker (7-6 (7-4) and the second set handily 6-0. Perry, Spicer, Kraemer and Bowman all won in two sets, giving BSU a 4-2 edge going into the doubles matches. Tlusty and Spicer dropped the No. 1 doubles match, but BSU picked up the point by winning the second and third doubles matches, giving BSU a 5-2 match victory.
The final two regular season matches BSU played were against the University of Minnesota-Morris and Winona State University, which were conference games.
April 19, the Beavers traveled to UMM with a six-match winning streak under their belts. O'Keefe said she had concerns before the match that the team might let down against UMM after facing such tough oponents as MSU and Southwest. However, she said the team performed well and had a balanced attack.
Tlusty endured BSU's first loss to UMM in first singles, losing by forfeit due to a back injury. Since the UMM match, Tlusty has been working hard to keep her back loose, O'Keefe said. Other than the forfeit, BSU only dropped the fourth singles position to take a 4-2 lead. Most of the singles matches were not even close, and only Perry had to struggle to win 6-3 and 6-1. BSU picked up the three doubles matches with wins from the teams of Tlusty and Spicer, Perry and Daniels and Bowman and Kristy Paakkonen.
The results of the April 21 match versus Winona State University were similar to those of the UMM match: BSU won 5-2, Tlusty and Daniels lost their singles matches and the other four singles positions won rather easily, Perry 6-1 and 6-4, Spicer 6-1 and 6-1, Bowman 7-6 (7-4) and 7-5 and Kraemer 6-1 and 6-2.
BSU also picked up a point with Tlusty and Spicer's win in the first doubles match 8-2 and Bowman and Paakkonen's win in the third doubles 8-6. Perry and Daniels dropped the second doubles 8-5.
With BSU's win versus WSU, second singles Perry notched her sixth consecutive singles victory, and Spicer won her fifth. The doubles team of Bowman and Paakkonen also picked up their sixth consecutive doubles victory.
The Beavers have won eight straight and should fare well in the conference championships, O'Keefe said. This could possibly be BSU's best finish ever in the conference if the team keeps up their play, she said.
"We've had some line changes. We're a lot tougher mentally," O'Keefe said. "I think we're going to surprise them. Half way through the season, I kept wondering what was going to happen, because we kept winning. Now, we're winning, and we have one more step to take."
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