Negaunee shuts out Westwood

By CRAIG REMSBURG, Senior Sports Writer
ISHPEMING — Kyle Saari was concerned about how well his Negaunee High School boys’ tennis team would play Monday after a big weekend in Kingsford.


The coach needn’t have worried.


His Miners improved to 6-1 on the season in dual meets with an 8-0 win over host Westwood. Only one match went to a third set. 


“Being just two days ago and getting a big win (at the Kingsford Invitational), it was nice to avoid a letdown,” Saari said. “I liked the effort we had ... .”


Only at No. 1 doubles did the Miners struggle. There, Tyler Hanson and Tyler DesJardins rallied for a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) victory over the Patriots’ Kyle Kestila and Eric Beauchamp.


“That was a great match,” Saari said. “(Hanson and DesJardins) are athletes.


“They play hockey, so they know how to fight back when they’re down.


“They don’t hang their heads. They know how to find a way to grind out the points.”


The Negaunee duo took nearly two hours to post the win.


“When they (Kestila and Beauchamp) were lobbing it back and forth, it was hard,” Hanson said. “We like to play a straight-up game.”


Added DesJardins: “After the first set, we just figured out we didn’t want to lose. We started playing after that.”


Jake Espinoza at No. 3 singles and Brian Price at No. 4 won their matches in straight sets for the Miners.


“It was nice getting Jake back,” Saari said. “He wasn’t able to play Saturday due to a strained abdominal muscle.


“He won in straight sets today, so hopefully, he got his confidence up before our invitational (in Negaunee) on Saturday.”


At No. 1 singles, Matt Schroderus defeated the Patriots’ Blake Hay, 6-3, 6-1.


“I tried to hit the forehand deep and then run up to the net, hoping I could catch him,” Schroderus said. “It worked pretty well, for the most part, especially in the second set.”


Saari said Schroderus, a senior, is gaining confidence in every match he plays.


“He’s starting to hit with more pace now,” the NHS coach said. “He’s keeping his shots deep in the court, working the corners well.


“At No. 1 singles, that’s crucial.”


WHS coach Tom Simula, after watching his team fall to 4-3-1 in dual meets this season, praised the Miners’ performance.


“In all the years I’ve coached (18), this is the most solid team up-and-down the lineup that I’ve seen in Negaunee,” he said. “Kyle has done a great job.


“We’re not a bad team. We’re young. We have a lot of sophomores in the lineup. But Negaunee’s just scary.”


Simula added the No. 1 doubles performance by his duo of Kestila and Beauchamp was noteworthy.


“They had a chance today, but got tight in the tiebreaker. They missed some opportunities — missed some floaters,” he said., “Hopefully they’ll learn from that and take it into the next match.


“Negaunee has a good No. 1 doubles team. (But) we went three sets with them and that shows me that maybe in the (Mid-Peninsula) conference and the U.P. tournament, we’ll be competitive.”