Phoebe Olson gets win No. 100 as a Blue Jay tennis player

Katie Ringer, The Jamestown Sun, N.D.
·2 min read

May 28—Phoebe Olson checked one thing off her to-do list before she graduates on Sunday.

Get 100 career wins as a Blue Jay.

Check.

"It's a milestone she reached because of the work she puts in during the off-season," JHS head coach Paul Olson said. "The kid loves tennis and works hard at it. This past off-season in particular she focused on her fitness and is in great shape."

Olson, a senior powerhouse for the Jamestown High

School tennis team, notched her 100th career Friday in the opening round of the individual portion of the West Region Tournament.

All the work Olson has put in was put her at the top of the watch list heading into the final day of the WDA Tournament.

After the Jays lost out in the WDA dual tournament, Thursday, Olson's focus turned to the individual portion of the tourney.

As the top seed, she was granted a first-round bye and then quickly proved to everyone why she was the No. 1 seed out of the west.

Edie Hegerle and Grace LeFevre were also in the running for an individual championship. Hegerle wound up dropping the decider but Coach Olson said he was impressed with how the freshman battled.

LeFevre went 3-1 and will play for a state qualifier Saturday.

Olson took over the race for individual WDA champion dispatching her first two opponents in the second round and the quarterfinals. Olson defeated Century's Kate Miller 6-0, 6-0, and then went on to defeat Legacy's Cambrya Kraft 6-1, 6-0.

Olson will face Minot's Halle Mattson in the semifinals Saturday at 11 a.m. at Minot's Hammond Park.

In the Jays' last two meetings with Minot, the only win the Jays have gotten is with Olson at the No. 1 singles spot. Olson has never faced Mattson personally.

Olson earned the No. 1 seed in the WDA individual tournament.

Coming into her final regional tournament, Olson was 8-0 in WDA conference matches at the No. 1 spot. Her junior season ended with a fifth-place individual finish at the 2021 State Tennis Tournament.

Olson became the fifth-ever Blue Jay to place at a Class A state tennis tournament. Olson finished fifth and was the Blue Jays' first singles state placer since Tania Thielman placed third at the 1984 tournament.

The win on Saturday qualified Olson for State for the fourth time in her career.

"I'm glad she got to 100 and appreciate all the coaches who have worked with her to make her the player she has become," Coach Olson said.