MINNEAPOLIS — For the first time since 2011, Rochester has a Class 2A state girls tennis singles champion.

Mayo junior Claire Loftus got that done Friday afternoon in brilliant fashion at the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center, playing virtually flawless tennis from late in the first set on to beat No. 1-ranked Cassandra Li of Eagan 7-5, 6-0.

Mayo also finished with the state doubles champion, the combination of freshman Malea Diehn and junior Keely Ryder rallying to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the title match.

“For me, it was a little bit emotional,” said Loftus, who became just the second Mayo girl to ever win a singles state title. “It was just all of the hard work I’ve put into this paying off. There were all of those days that I didn’t want to practice, but did it anyway. Being able to represent my school, it means a lot.”

Friday’s individual championships capped what has been an extraordinary season for Mayo girls tennis. Early in the week, the Spartans won their first Class 2A state team title, beating Edina 6-1 in the championship to complete an unbeaten season (26-0).

And then came Friday, with the Spartans — forever considered one of the top two or three programs in the state — sweeping the individual titles. First Loftus grabbed her state singles championship, then Diehn and Ryder rode the inspiration of Loftus’ accomplishment to bounce back from a first-set loss to Lakeville North’s Keira Kelly and Addy Bowlby and win the next two sets and the state championship.

“It was a remarkable season,” Mayo coach Jeff Demaray said. “To win the team title, then the singles and the doubles title — the triple crown. It’s a dream come true for all of the Mayo tennis family.”

Loftus’ battle had been situated right next to the doubles championship match.

“When Claire won her state title, that was so good for her,” said Ryder, who a year ago teamed with Diehn to win the state consolation doubles title. “When we saw that she had won, I then thought we had a chance to do it, too. Lakeville North has a really good doubles team, but we stuck with it. And we saw all of our teammates watching us and cheering for us, which was super exciting.”

Loftus, who finished the season 26-1, entered the tournament ranked second in the state. Her only loss was to Li early in the season, in three sets. Li, a sophomore, entered unbeaten.

Despite that prior loss to Li, Loftus loved her chances of finishing as a state champion. Her strategy the first time included trying to put points away in a hurry, as it came on a blisteringly hot day. It turned out that didn’t work quite well enough.

So, the Mayo star turned more patient this time until she found an almost unbeatable rhythm in the second set. Loftus’ only trouble early in the match had been her leaving a few balls short and right in Li’s strike zone, which the Eagan sophomore so often put away, down either line. Loftus later countered that by — among other things — driving the ball deeper and loopier, taking away Li’s power game.

“She couldn’t do much with those deep shots,” Loftus said.

The strategy worked beautifully. So did the fact that Loftus’ tennis arsenal is complete. She used the afternoon to show it off, changing speeds and angles and spins on shots, and also including some unreachable and gorgeous drop shots. And by the end of the match, her confidence now soaring, she was often going with her power game and ending points in a hurry.

Slowly but surely, all of it wore Li out. By early in the second set, the formerly unbeaten Li was completely flummoxed by Loftus’ game. The Mayo junior rattled off one win after another until things were complete, Loftus a 6-0 second-set winner and a state champion.

Loftus never took any of it for granted, even when she was rolling.

“Even in the second set, I knew that the next point was never guaranteed,” she said. “Nothing was guaranteed until I’d won the match, until I was the champion.”

Loftus became just the second Mayo player to ever win a Class 2A state girls singles championship, Caitlin Loprinzi the other (2003). Loftus also became the fourth Rochester player to ever do it, joining Loprinzi, Jessie Aney (Century, 2011) and Kelsey Frechette (Century, 2010).

• Diehn and Ryder entered the state tournament as the No. 1 seed in doubles. In facing Lakeville North’s Kelly and Bowlby they were taking on a team that was unseeded and one that Diehn/Ryder had beaten 6-4, 6-2 in the Section 1-2A doubles championship on Oct. 17.

But this was a different Kelly/Bowlby that showed up in the state tournament, having won all three of their matches leading up to the championship in straight sets, including against the No. 2 seed.

It looked like the Lakeville North pair might just pull off that straight-sets thing again in the championship, winning 6-3 in the first set.

But then, riding Loftus’ winning vibe, things began to click for the Mayo duo.

“Lakeville North played a lot better than the first time we played them,” said Ryder, who does her best work at the net while Diehn, who’s ranked ninth in the state in singles, dominates from the baseline. “But Malea and I started working together (starting in the second set) to set up points. We were moving without the ball, setting up some amazing shots.”

That teamwork and skill led to a 6-3 win in the second set and then a 6-4 state-title clincher in the third.

The way the match ended was stunning. On her second serve, Diehn decided to go for it, rifling a serve down the middle of the court for an ace.

“I was getting tired and I wanted to end it,” Diehn said of that crushed second offering.

Diehn and Ryder had done it, fulfilling a dream they’d both held for years. They’d gone from a fifth-place finisher last year, to state champions.

“This was so cool,” Diehn said. “I’d been hoping for this the entire season. It was such a cool experience and accomplishment.”

Other Rochester-area finishers

In Class 2A, Mayo didn’t only finish first in singles, it also got a fourth place. The latter went to freshman Aoife Loftus, younger sister of Claire Loftus.

After upsetting No. 4 seed Lucy Nabedrick (Wayzata) on Thursday, No. 5-seeded Aoife lost 6-0, 6-2 to Li in the semifinals, then 6-3, 6-3 to No. 3 seed Ava Nelson (Elk River) in the third-place match.

In the Class 1A state tournament at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center, Lourdes senior combination and best friends Caroline Daly and Elyse Palen landed third overall in doubles.

Daly and Palen beat Staples-Motley’s Lauren Rutten and Ronnie Noska 4-6, 6-0, 10-5 in the third-place match.

In singles, Winona Cotter’s Emma Hageman also finished third, beating Holy Family Catholic’s Casey Cronin 6-3, 6-3 in her final match.

SINGLES

Semifinals: Cassandra Li (Eagan) def. Aoife Loftus (Mayo) 6-0, 6-2; Claire Loftus (Mayo) def. Ava Nelson (Elk River) 6-1, 6-3. Championship: Loftus def. Li 7-5, 6-0. Third place: Nelson def. A. Loftus 6-3, 6-3.

DOUBLES

Semifinals: Malea Diehn/Keely Ryder (Mayo) def. Greta Holmes/Tasha Plyabongkarn (Wayzata) 6-0, 6-3; Keira Kelly/Addy Bowlby (Lakeville North) def. Maddie Larsen/Summer Ode (Maple Grove) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Championship: Diehn/Ryder def. Kelly/Bowlby 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Third place: Holmes/Piyabongkarn def. Larsen/Ode 7-5, 6-2.

Singles

Semifinals: Isabelle Einess (Breck) def. Casey Cronin (Holy Family Catholic) 6-0, 6-0; Leah Maddock (Osakis) def. Emma Hageman (Winona Cotter) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. Championship: Einess def. Maddock 6-0, 6-0. Third place: Hageman def. Cronin 6-3, 6-3.

Doubles

Semifinals: Fatemeh Vang/Nana Vang (Blake) def. Lauren Rutten/Ronnie Noska (Staples-Motley) 6-2, 6-0; Greta Johnson/Chloe Alley (Minnehaha Academy) def. Caroline Daly/Elyse Palen (Lourdes) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Championship: F. Vang/N. Vang def. Alley/Johnson 6-0, 6-2. Third place: Daly/Palen def. Rutten/Noska 4-6, 6-0, 10-5.