SIOUX FALLS – On a day that featured plenty of twists and turns, Aberdeen Central is in fifth place in team points following the opening day of the Class AA State Girls’ Tennis Tournament on Thursday.

“We are very pleased,” said Central coach John Vogel. “The highs, the lows, the surprises, the disappointments, they did have it all.”

The Golden Eagles have one entry into the championship round, and have two others in the semifinal round when action resumes today. The top flight doubles squad of Julia Knie and Avery Tennant advanced to the finals, while in singles Laney Gonsor (flight three) and Reese Comstock (flight five) both moved into the semifinals.

“We’re so excited how it turned out today,” Vogel said. “Going in if you’d say we’re going to get two singles in the semis, we’re going to get two doubles in the semis and one is going to make the final, I’d way ‘Wow, what a day.’ That’s what we had. We had ‘what a day.'”

Vogel was pleased with how the players started out in singles, although one of the best matches of the day resulted in a heartbreaking loss at flight four where Livia Douglas fell in a match that featured two tiebreakers and a super tiebreaker.

“That was a fanastic match,” Vogel said. “I do feel bad, but (Livia) came back and won her fifth place semi and will play for fifth (Friday).”

Central had a solid singles round and then did some major damage in doubles.

“Even after singles, it was still a good day and then we started doubles,” Vogel said. “That was fun.”

One of the highlights came in the quarterfinals when Knie and Tennant knocked off a second-seeded Yankton squad that they had lost to twice this season.

“It’s a huge win,” Vogel said. “They’re the two seed. They’re a good team.”

Knie and Tennant then moved into the finals with a semifinal victory over a foe from O’Gorman.

“So much for experience,” Vogel said of his top doubles team. “This is the first time we’ve played dubs in the state tournament, and oh by the way, let’s go make flight one finals.”

There was more heartbreak at flight two doubles where Gonsor and Douglas dropped a super tiebreaker decision to a Mitchell team that they just beat last week.

“The doubles was strange,” Vogel said. “We didn’t play the greatest in the first set and I think Mitchell returned the favor in the second, but the breaker was fun.”

And there was more positive at flight three doubles, when Comstock and Olivia Geier won a quarterfinal match before falling to top-seeded Sioux Falls Lincoln in the semis.

Vogel was pleased that his players went toe-to-toe with the elite in the state and held their own. He said the road only gets tougher from here on out.

“The matches get really hard on day two,” Vogel said. “I’m glad we’ve got so many people playing, but they’re not going to be easy (matches).”

Team Points: Sioux Falls Lincoln 321, Rapid City Stevens 276, Mitchell 262, Sioux Falls Jefferson 261, Aberdeen Central 237.5, Watertown 184, O’Gorman 163.5, Brandon Valley 148.5, Yankton 89, Brookings 72.5, Harrisburg 164.5, Sioux Washington 38.5, Sioux Falls Roosevelt 15.5, Rapid City Central 0.

Aberdeen Central

Singles

First Flight

JULIA KNIE: lost to Ellie Zink, Watertown, 6-1, 6-3; Bye; def. Sophie Tanner, Brookings, 10-1.

Second Flight

AVERY TENNANT: def. Erika Starr, Harrisburg, 6-3, 6-4; lost to Leyla Meester, Watertown, 6-2, 6-3; lost to Samantha Smith, Sioux Falls Jefferson, 10-6.

Third Flight

LANEY GONSOR: def. Kili Cole, Rapid City Central, 6-2, 6-0; def. Faith Berg, Watertown, 6-2, 6-3.

Fourth Flight

LIVIA DOUGLAS: def. Vada Jacoby, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 6-1, 6-1; lost to Katie Morgan, Mitchell, 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (0-7), 10-7; def. Sophia Menden, Brandon Valley, 10-4.

Fifth Flight

REESE COMSTOCK: def. Riplie Petersen, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 6-0, 6-1; def. Zoriah VanDeVendel, Sioux Falls Washington, 6-1, 6-1.

Sixth Flight

RILEY O’KEEFE: def. Meagan Scott, Yankton, 6-0, 6-1; lost to Matteah Graves, Mitchell, 4-6, 6-2, 10-4; lost to Savannah Vander Zee, Sioux Falls Jefferson, 10-7.

Doubles

First Flight

JULIA KNIE-AVERY TENNANT: def. Mckenzie Vickery-Erika Starr, Harrisburg, 6-1, 6-2; def. Nora Krajewski-Sabrina Krajewski, Yankton, 6-4, 6-4; def. Ellie Huber-Lucy Koziara, O’Gorman, 6-4, 6-4.

Second Flight

LANEY GONSOR-LIVIA DOUGLAS: def. Abigail Paulsen-Lauren Betsworth, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 6-2, 6-0; lost to Carsyn Weich-Elly Clement, Mitchell, 6-3, 4-6, 10-8.

Third Flight

REESE COMSTOCK-OLIVIA GEIER: def. Lilly Deming-Raegan Patton, Rapid City Central, 6-0, 6-0; def. Sarah Jamous-Wilnel Farhat, O’Gorman, 6-1, 6-4; lost to Julia Hedrick-Angela Ge, Sioux Falls Lincoln, 6-4, 6-3.