MEET-CLINCHING POINT — Fairmont’s Carly Gustafson (back right) connects on a serve as doubles partner Claire Brockmann awaits a return during tennis action Friday at the Cardinal Courts in Fairmont. The Cardinals went on to defeat Belle Plaine, 4-3. (Photo by Charlie Sorrells)

FAIRMONT — After squeegeeing early morning rain off the Cardinal Courts, Albert Lea opting out of play, the Belle Plaine girls tennis bus getting delayed in road construction and a strap breaking on a net, the Fairmont Cardinals emerged victorious over the Tigers on Friday.

Claire Brockmann and Carly Gustafson rallied to net one of Fairmont’s two three-set victories from the No. 5 spot in the all-doubles competition to capture the decisive team point in a 4-3 win over the Tigers.

Knotted at two matches apiece, Madysen Tonne and Cailwyn Jobe combined to collect a pivotal go-ahead point for Fairmont at the No. 6 spot.

Belle Plaine’s Josephine Voigt and Cesilia Ledesma outdueled Tonne and Jobe in their opening set 6-4 before Fairmont’s tandem reversed course by claiming a 6-2 second-set win.

Despite trailing 3-0 in the decisive full third set, Tonne and Jobe regrouped to earn a critical service break in Game 5 to stay within one of Voigt and Ledesma at 3-2 and 4-3. Tonne and Jobe rallied for another key break in Game 9 before closing out the clutch 6-4 third-set win to put the Cardinals ahead 3-2 overall.

Brockmann and Carly Gustafson built a 5-2 first-set lead over Nina Messer and Olivia Endres before the Tigers’ tandem flipped the switch by reeling off five unanswered game wins to garner the opening stanza.

Brockmann and Carly Gustafson, however, regrouped between sets and battled to a nip-and-tuck second segment to 6-all. The Fairmont duo then outlasted Messer and Endres in the second-set tiebreaker, 7-4.

Carly Gustafson and Brockmann earned an early service break in the third decisive set before coasting to a 6-1 win to ice the team triumph at 4-2.

Fairmont’s Ivy Schomberg and Samantha Thatcher produced the meet’s initial point from the No. 7 spot before Cardinal teammates Emelia Klanderud and Madi Peyman nailed down the second tally from the No. 3 spot.

Schomberg and Thatcher breezed to set wins of 6-1 and 6-3 over Ella Thorstad and Elyse Nelson to stake Fairmont to a 1-0 lead on the scorecards.

Emelia Klanderud and Madi Peyman pounded their way to a 6-2 opening-set triumph before needing only a total of seven games to earn the second-set victory by a 6-1 margin.

Olivia Walter and Alyssa Schumacher claimed back-to-back 6-3 sets over Ellie Plumhoff and Jaydan Moses to net the Tigers’ first point at the No. 4 position before Josie Schmidt and Lydia Sparby — along with teammates Joelea Koepp and Sienna Bemmels — survived in a pair of three-set matches to whittle the Cardinals’ final winning margin.

Brynn Gustafson and Elly Stegge collected a 6-1 opening-set win over Koepp and Bemmels at No. 2 doubles before the Tigers transformed the second set into a 6-3 victory. Koepp and Bemmels stayed aggressive near the net to roll to a 6-0 third-set win over Brynn Gustafson and Stegge to tie the team score at 2-all.

Schmidt, a two-time individual state qualifier, and Sparby exited the Cardinal Courts with the most difficult team tally to earn on the day.

Fairmont’s Abi Peyman and Hope Klanderud combined their Nos. 1 and 2 singles skills into a hard-hitting tandem to deliver an opening 6-2 loss to Schmidt and Sparby.

Schmidt and Sparby, however, rallied for a 6-3 second-set decision to create one of the clash’s four extra-frame sessions on the day.

The Belle Plaine duo caught their second wind to bounce back from a 5-2 deficit in the third set to grab a 6-5 lead. Hope Klanderud and Abi Peyman hammered their way to a win in the 12th game to force a third-set tiebreaker at the No. 1 spot. Schmidt’s lethal serving spurred the Tigers’ late adrenaline surge to win the third-set tiebreaker 7-3.

Fairmont (2-0) travels to Wells on Monday to face United South Central in a non-league dual meet.