SERVING ACES — Members of the Fairmont Cardinal girls tennis team traveling to Austin on Friday for its season-opening dual meet include, front row (left to right): Hailee Greeley, Adeline Lenway, Valeria Morales, Jaydan Moses, Elly Stegge and Madi Peyman. Middle row: Carly Gustafson, Ivy Schomberg, Ciera Janssen, Breanna Groskreutz, Abi Peyman and Brynn Gustafson. Back row: Head coach Laura Olsen, Kate Grogin, Hope Klanderud, Samantha Thatcher, Claire Brockmann, Emelia Klanderud, Ellie Plumhoff and assistant coach Tim Slama. (Photo by Charlie Sorrells)

FAIRMONT — Control the controllables.

Fairmont head coach Laura Olsen plans to implement that philosophy in preparing her Cardinal student-athletes for the upcoming girls tennis season that delivers its first serve at 10 a.m. Friday against the host Packers in Austin.

“I was fortunate enough to learn about Cindra Kamphoff’s approach in a Zoom meeting with her through the school,” Olsen said in reference to Minnesota State University-Mankato’s director of The Center of Sport and Performance Psychology. “There’s only so much you can control in the game of tennis, as in life in general, and the important aspect is how you respond when things don’t go your way.

“We’ve been working on mental toughness and our girls have shown great improvement in that area. We know how to recognize when we start thinking negatively and how to try to reverse it.”

Senior co-captains Hope Klanderud and Abi Peyman will guide the Cardinals onto the tennis courts in Austin and look to pick up where they left off during Fairmont’s summer program.

“Abi and Hope have a lot of varsity experience they can draw from and are great leaders both on and off the court,” said Olsen. “They are good examples of student-athletes who work hard, stay focused on the task at hand, communicate well and encourage other players to stay positive.”

Abi Peyman and Hope Klanderud each produced a number of pivotal team points during the past two seasons, helping guide Fairmont to the Class A state team tournament in 2021 and to a runner-up team showing in the 2022 Section 2 Meet.

The Cardinals netted a 6-1 sectional team quarterfinal win over United South Central, edged rival Blue Earth Area by a 4-3 semifinal decision and lost a 5-2 hard-fought clash to St. James Area in the sectional finale en route to a 14-8 overall dual-meet record last fall.

Hope Klanderud then combined court skills with 2022 Fairmont High School graduate Anika Haugen in generating a 1-2 record during the Class A individual doubles state meet.

Freshman Emelia Klanderud — Hope’s younger sibling — also returns to the tennis courts after proving a perfect 3-for-3 in her individual matches during last fall’s sectional team playoffs.

Elly Stegge, Ellie Plumhoff, Jaydan Moses and Brynn Gustafson — all seniors, along with sophomore Madi Peyman, round out the Cardinals’ returning varsity-experienced nucleus this season.

“Since we haven’t had all of our courts available for practice due to a rainout on Monday, and then work being done on fixing the courts’ playing surfaces the next two days, (assistant coach) Tim (Slama) and I haven’t been able to nail down a lineup yet. Those are things we can’t control,” said Olsen. “We do have a handful of ‘new’ seniors, who are athletic, out for the team, in addition to a group of juniors practicing who worked out with the upper-level players this summer.

“It wouldn’t be fair to narrow down our team at this point, without seeing everyone in real game situations.”

After Fairmont ventures to Austin on Friday for a nonconference season-opener, it will hit the road to Mapleton on Tuesday to face Maple River in a 4:30 p.m. non-league dual contest.

The Cardinals then open the home portion of their schedule by playing host to Albert Lea and Belle Plaine in an all-doubles format triangular on Friday, Aug. 25, at the Cardinal Courts in Fairmont.

Fairmont plays Albert Lea starting at 9 a.m., followed by Albert Lea against Belle Plaine, with Belle Plaine playing Fairmont in the final meet.

Nora Laven returns to handle the Cardinals’ C-squad coaching duties this fall.