BLUE EARTH — Blue Earth Area sophomore singles player Te’a Armstrong and the Bucs’ doubles combination of junior Macie Stevermer and sophomore McKenna Dutton have grown accustomed to being labeled as ‘underdogs’ this tennis season.

Similar to the Section 3 Meet exactly two weeks ago in St. Peter, Armstrong, Stevermer and Dutton will face long odds of advancing to Day 2 of the Class A individual state tournament at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

Armstrong, who overcame being the No. 3 sectional seed to qualify for state for a second consecutive year, opens first-round singles action against Park Rapids Area senior Natalie Kinkel at 8 a.m. Thursday.

“Te’a looks like she got a good first-round draw, facing another unseeded player,” said Blue Earth Area head coach Konny Wolff. “The only problem is the winner goes up against the No. 1 seed and three-time state runner-up in (Blake School junior Arlina) Shen in the quarterfinals.

“I never count her (Armstrong) out, however, as she always continues to work, stays calm and never gives up.”

Ironically, the tandem of Dutton and Stevermer face a similar plight in their portion of the Class A state doubles bracket on Thursday. Dutton and Stevermer will put their racket skills against the Le Sueur-Henderson senior duo of Kylie Dunning and Erica Cronk in their scheduled 10 a.m. opener at the Reed-Sweatt tennis facility.

“Macie and McKenna face the same dilemma as Te’a in the second round, if they win their opener. The winner most likely gets the defending Class A state champions,” Wolff said in reference to top-seeded sophomore Clare Palen and junior Natalie Allison of Rochester Lourdes. “I believe Le Sueur-Henderson’s girls (Dunning and Cronk) played No. 1 doubles during the regular season, so it’ll be a challenge.

“But, then again, who’d have thought our No. 3 and No. 4 singles players — who were the No. 5 seeds in the section tournament — would have made it this far?”

Wolff and her state-qualifying trio attended the Class A state tennis banquet on Monday night before returning to Schroeder Courts in Blue Earth for a quick tune-up session on Tuesday.

“We’ll drive back up there (today) for a 6:30 p.m. practice. We get to hit on Reed-Sweatt for an hour, go to our hotel and get some rest for Thursday’s matches,” said Wolff. “It’s definitely been more relaxed in practicing at the (indoor) fitness center this year. There’s not as much pressure in preparing for the individual tournament as there was when we qualified as a team a year ago.”

Armstrong combined court skills with then-senior Julia Hanson and went 0-2 during the individual doubles meet, but compiled a 2-0 record at fourth singles during Blue Earth Area’s quarterfinal loss to Osakis and consolation semifinal defeat to Virginia.

Stevermer lost her two No. 1 singles matches in the team competition, as did Dutton as No. 2 doubles, in 2017.

St. James Area senior Renata Hernandez and the Saints’ doubles tandem of Zoie Becker and Ellie Becker — both Section 3 individual champions — will return to the Minneapolis-based courts on Thursday on the heels of today’s 8 a.m. Class A state team semifinal clash against Litchfield and later this afternoon, either their championship or third-place match.

Hernandez, Zoie Becker and Ellie Becker generated straight-set singles victories at their respective Nos. 1, 2 and 3 positions to help pace the Saints’ 5-2 state team quarterfinal triumph over East Grand Forks on Tuesday.

The No. 10-ranked Hernandez faces Annandale sophomore Jennah Groth at 8 a.m. Thursday in a first-round individual singles match, with the winner advancing to face either No. 3-seeded and No. 8-ranked Danielle Thorfinnson of Minnewaska Area or Blake School eighth-grader Allison Jay in a noon quarterfinal Thursday.

Hernandez won her opening singles match in 2017 before losing to Holy Family Catholic’s Ally Agerland in the quarterfinals. Agerland went on to place fourth at state.

In fact, Agerland, who’s the No. 4 seed and sixth-ranked netter, faces Osakis sophomore Tia Dykema in Thursday’s first round. Ironically, in the other half of the bracket, No. 2-seeded and No. 2-ranked Kate Mulvey of Trinity School at River Ridge plays Roseau senior Jodi Ostroski in first-round action. Mulvey defeated Agerland for the bronze medal last fall.

In the Class A doubles bracket, the Becker siblings square off against Virginia’s junior duo of Anna Seitz and Ava Warren at 10 a.m. Thursday. The winner advances to play either Blake School’s Sonia Baig and Bella Suk or Lake City’s Ashley Thieren and Ava Wallerich. Baig, who finished the regular season at No. 5 in the individual state rankings, and Suk are the No. 3 doubles seeds.

Day 2 of the Class A individual singles and doubles state meet starts at 8 a.m. Friday back at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis.