MINNEAPOLIS — The end of an era?

Probably. But what an era it was for the Rochester Mayo girls tennis program: 14 straight trips to the state tennis tournament, 29 state trips in 30 years, and lastly but hardly least, four straight state championships.

The Spartans nailed down No. 4 on Wednesday afternoon at the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center, doing it behind a pack of tennis devoted seniors the likes of which this school may never see again.

With super powers at the top of their lineup, including the two highest ranked players in the state, Mayo clobbered Edina — the state’s original and most dominant ever tennis dynasty (19 straight state championships from 1996-2015) — winning Wednesday’s title dual 6-1.

Yes, what Edina accomplished in that 19-year span was truly remarkable and a national record.

But that in no way minimizes what Mayo has done. Simply, Mayo girls tennis the last pile of years has been dizzying.

Almost all of it has happened under the watchful eye of two men, Jeff Demaray and Dave Edwards. Edwards was the 25-year head coach of Mayo girls tennis until stepping down after the 2018 season. During all of that time Demaray was his enthusiastic and able assistant.

Edwards’ girls never won the “big one,” but gosh were they close. Five times the Spartans finished second at state under Edwards. Nine other times they finished third. Edwards always handled it all with aplomb, calm and cool to the end.

But starting in 2021, with Demaray then the third-year head coach, things began to change. It was subtle at first because current senior stars Aoife Loftus, Malea Diehn and Eli Elder were just mighty mites at the time — just seventh graders.

But, showing rare skills for that age and an obvious devotion to the game, they gave a glimpse of what Mayo tennis could become.

And then it happened.

Mayo tennis, starting in 2023, took over. No longer were Loftus, Diehn and Elder just nice, fit-in pieces for Mayo. They were stars.

And they had stars ahead of them showing them and leading the way. At the top of that list was Claire Loftus, Aoife’s older sister by two years. She finished as state singles champion in 2023 and 2024, and was the personification of Mayo tennis — showing sportsmanship, deep desire, work ethic, class and loads of skill and poise.

The younger players watched her and other seasoned Mayo players and learned.

And now look. Mayo was untouchable this season, save for losing one dual to a Wisconsin school, Brookfield East, with Loftus out of the lineup.

With No. 1-ranked and defending state champion Loftus —who was upset Wednesday by Edina’s No. 3-ranked Rashi Singh 6-2, 7-6 (7-5 tie-breaker) — and No. 2-ranked Diehn at the top of the Spartans’ lineup, and No. 9-ranked Elder just behind them at No. 3 singles, psychologically, team duals are over with the Spartans almost before they start.

It was the same thing last year at state when Mayo blasted Minnetonka 5-2 in the championship dual.

And it’s not just Aoife Loftus, Diehn and Elder who are problems for teams. A glance at Wednesday’s scores against Edina tells that story. In singles, Diehn won 6-1, 6-1, Elder 6-4, 6-2 and Emily Loftus 6-0, 6-4. In doubles, where Mayo has made its biggest strides this season, it was a Spartans sweep, Eden Bendel and Annabelle Camp winning 6-1, 6-1, Grace Pickering and Ella Brinkman winning 6-1, 6-1 and Mia Zoghby and Diane Meunier winning 6-3, 6-2.

This is a team, right now, not to be trifled with.

"And we really are a team," Demaray said.

And next year? Well, things figure to be significantly different then. Aoife Loftus, Diehn, Elder, Brinkman and Meunier will have all graduated. Next year the hunch is that Century, filled with up-and-coming players, will advance to state, ending Mayo’s 14-year run.

But who knows. Mayo has some young players of its own who are up-and-coming. The Spartans also have five non-graduating players who were starters on this year’s juggernaut team.

So, is this Mayo mini-dynasty over and done with or not?

We'll see.

“We brought 21 of our players up to state this time just so they could see what it was all about and what it takes to get there,” Demaray said. “They want to get back here next year.”

Mayo 6, Edina 1
Singles: Rashi Singh (E) def. Aoife Loftus 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); Malea Diehn (M) def. Bella Loucks 6-1, 6-1; Eliana Elder (M) def. Sophia Zeng 6-4, 6-2; Emily Loftus (M) def. Mylana Hallaway 6-0, 6-4. Doubles: Eden Bendel/Annabelle Camp (M) def. Sarah Levine/Alison Schmidt 6-1, 6-1; Grace Pickering/Ella Brinkman (M) def. Madeline Sundlick/Berit Larson 6-1, 6-1; Mia Zoghby/Diane Meunier (M) def. Cecilia Bourne/Avery Hardt 6-3, 6-2.

Pat Ruff is a Post Bulletin sports reporter. He can be reached at pruff@postbulletin.com.