By Tom Schardin, Staff Writer

 Amy Lindblad and Natalie Leiker couldn’t quite duplicate the efforts of their former teammates last year at the state badminton tournament.

Nonetheless, the Burnsville seniors still had an impressive showing in the doubles tournament.

Leiker and Lindblad made it all the way to the semifinals, before finishing fourth on May 16 at St. Paul Harding High School.

Last year, then-seniors Lindsey Mortinson and Michelle Teigland won the state doubles title for Burnsville.

“Amy and Natalie played very well (in the first three rounds),” said Blaze coach Jeff Limke.  “The three matches were close and they didn’t get rattled.  They just stuck to their game plan and it prevailed.

“(In the semifinals), they had the misfortune of drawing Eden Prairie’s doubles team and they’re just very good. For third place, Amy and Natalie had a great game one, but it took a bit more out of them than they expected I think.”

Leiker and Lindblad lost to Eden Prairie’s Becca Wade and Larysa Eteneur, the eventual state champions, 21-9, 21-8 in the semifinals.

In the third-place game, Leiker and Lindblad lost a tough battle in game one (23-21) to St. Paul Johnson’s Kai Thao and Kou Nou Chang and then fell in game two (21-13).

Leiker and Lindblad escaped in the first round with a 22-20, 21-18 victory and then earned a 21-16, 21-15 win in the second round. In the quarterfinals, the duo won 21-17, 21-15.

“It was a great way to end the season having someone playing in the semifinals for the second straight year,” said Limke. “I’m hoping for our other girls that they get the message that it can be done regardless of how the regular season goes. It is how you play at the end that everyone remembers and not how you played in the middle.”Leiker and Lindblad finished the season with a 12-9 record.

Meanwhile, Burnsville’s other doubles team – seniors Lisa Dennis and Soogin Moon – won one of two matches at state

Dennis and Moon won 21-18, 21-10 in the first round, but lost in the round of 16 to Thao and Chang (21-6, 21-10). Moon and Dennis finished the season with a 12-5 mark, playing No. 2 doubles all season behind Leiker and Lindblad.

In singles, both Blaze players lost their opening round match.

Senior Ciara Hogenson, the team’s No. 1 singles player all season, lost 21-14, 21-18 to St. Paul Central’s Yer Chang, while junior Bea Soderholm lost to St. Paul Harding’s Mee Xiong (21-10, 21-9).

As a team, the Blaze finished 5-11 on the season going 1-1 in the state tournament.

Limke will lose eight seniors who played on the varsity, including Adrienne Sherman, Claire Weiss and Emily Zhang.

Soderholm will be a top returning player for the Blaze next spring, along with junior Crystal Colin and sisters Ashley Kolstad and Leah Kolstad.