Bishop LeBlond secured its third straight district title Saturday at Noyes Tennis Complex with the help of a few unheralded heroines.

As expected, Conner and Loree Hazelrigg — twin sisters and doubles partners — crushed the field and earned another trip to the Class 1 state tournament, but a pair of gutsy singles showings lifted the Golden Eagles above the rest of the field.

Katie Lorenz and Meg Robertson, who normally play Nos. 5 and 6, combined to win five games on the consolation side of the singles bracket and gave LeBlond a one-point margin over second-place Kearney in the team standings.

“You always tell them to go out there and play as long as you can, because it can matter. And it did,” LeBlond coach Chris Losson said. “They really just played lights out today and gave me everything they had.”

Lorenz hit an unexpected road block with a second-round loss to Cami Pendleton of Benton, but Lorenz reeled off three straight wins on the backside, good enough for another 1 1/2 points. Robertson also gained a full point for her team with a pair of consolation-side wins.

The Golden Eagles racked up the majority of their points in the doubles bracket, though, thanks to the Hazelriggs’ performance. The juniors did not drop a single game until the final match against a formidable Platte County duo and still dominated in the finale — 6-1, 6-3.

“Up to that point, they had really dominated the tournament, but you’d like to see them cut down on some of the unforced errors,” Losson said.

LeBlond should begin its latest playoff push Tuesday, when the team is tentatively scheduled to play Platte County at 4 p.m. in the first round of team play at Noyes. Benton, which finished third in the team standings on a tie-breaker, travels to Kearney to take on the Bulldogs the same day.

After coming up one step shy of a team trip to state last year, the Hazelriggs hope they can help the team advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1997.

“It would be really exciting to go as a team,” Loree Hazelrigg said. “It would mean a lot to all of us to go down there and win as a team.”

Also in the singles bracket, Kerstyn Bolton of Benton continued her tremendous run with a runner-up finish — resulting in a state berth of her own.

The Cardinals’ senior picked up the game only a year ago and has improved by leaps and bounds during the past two seasons. Bolton cruised into the final and gave Vera Rappsilber of Kearney her greatest challenge of the day before falling, 6-2, 6-4.

Even after earning the trip to state, Bolton had a hard time absorbing the news.

“It’s hard to believe,” Bolton said. “Later in the season, I went through a little bit of a lull, but I think I’ve started to understand my game.”

Bolton is believed to be the Cardinals’ first individual qualifier since Angie Kretzer made the trip in 1998.

Savannah, meanwhile, fell just short of a team trip to sectionals by finishing fifth with 19.5 points, despite a solid showing in the singles. Amanda Capps finished third, while Mindy Anderson bounced back from a loss to Bolton to take fifth.

Sports reporter Andy Meyer can be reached at andymeyer@npgco.com