Hermantown didn’t slip quietly into the postseason last fall. The Hawks surged through the Lake Superior Conference schedule, finished with a winning record and advanced deep into the section playoffs before bowing out against one of the state’s top programs. That taste of success has left little doubt about the mission in 2025.
The Hawks open their season Wednesday at home against nonconference Duluth East, the first of three matches in four days on Hermantown’s courts. St. Francis and Duluth Marshall also come to town this week, giving the Hawks a chance to showcase a senior-heavy roster from the outset.
Nearly the entire varsity lineup returns, including three senior captains — Rylee Kalkbrenner, Sophia Piede and Evie Sullivan — who anchored the program’s playoff push a year ago. They are joined by a dozen classmates who bring both experience and depth, giving Hermantown one of the most seasoned rosters in northern Minnesota.
That experience was on full display in 2024, when the Hawks strung together key wins in September, secured a strong seeding in the section tournament and knocked off a higher-ranked opponent before their season ended in the semifinals. The playoff run marked one of the program’s strongest showings in recent years and cemented expectations that this fall could be even bigger.
The 2025 schedule offers few soft spots. After the opening homestand, Hermantown heads to a tri-meet at Grand Rapids on Aug. 26, followed by matches against Rock Ridge and Princeton. September brings a gauntlet of conference battles, including trips to Cloquet (Sept. 2), Superior (Sept. 4) and Stella Maris Academy (Sept. 9). The regular season closes with a series of high-stakes home matches — Cloquet (Sept. 17), Hibbing (Sept. 22), Denfeld (Sept. 23), Stella Maris (Sept. 24) and Superior (Sept. 25) — that will go a long way toward deciding the Lake Superior Conference title.
This fall also brings new postseason dynamics. Section realignment has shuffled opponents, giving the Hawks unfamiliar competition and, potentially, a clearer path to a state tournament berth. For a program that has been building steadily, the timing couldn’t be better.
With veteran leadership, depth across singles and doubles, and confidence earned from last year’s playoff run, Hermantown enters the 2025 season no longer a team on the rise. The Hawks are already there — and they’ll spend the next six weeks proving it.