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Battle of the titans: Negaunee Miners defeats Westwood Patriots in 1st matchup of 2016 Upper Peninsula champions

Westwood No. 1 singles player Marissa Carello hits back in a match against Negaunee’s Megan Syrjala on Wednesday morning in Negaunee. (Journal photo by Rachel Oakley)

NEGAUNEE — Right out of the gates, two titans clashed on the tennis courts on Wednesday morning.

Only one still looked strong afterward.

Upper Peninsula Division 1 champion Negaunee hosted U.P. Division 2 co-champion Westwood, but it was almost all Miners as the home team prevailed 7-1 on the first day of both the high school girls tennis season and first day of high school fall sports season in the area.

Several other matches were also held Wednesday. Marquette went on the road and felled Escanaba 6-2, while Ishpeming lost at West Iron County 6-2.

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Marquette’s Hannah Swajanen hits a return to Escanaba’s Taylor Gauthier during their No. 1 singles match Wednesday at Escanaba. (Escanaba Daily Press photo by Avery Bundgaard)

Negaunee 7, Westwood 1

At Negaunee, the Miners were particularly dominant in doubles, where they lost just five games over the four matches.

They were led by the No. 1 tandem of Mykenna Kontio and Abby Nelson, who won 6-2, 6-1 over the Patriots’ Tess Perrow and Sierra Laitinen.

“It’s nice to get underway and begin seeing where you stand team-wise,” NHS coach Kyle Saari said. “Although we return a lot of depth, you have to prove yourself day in and day out.

“Mykenna and Abby did a nice job jumping up to (No.) 1 doubles and responded well.”

Westwood’s lone victory came at No. 1 singles, where senior Marissa Carello worked for a 6-4, 6-3 win over Megan Syrjala.

Then the Miners lost just six games over the three singles flights they won, led by No. 2 Jenna Sager taking a 6-2, 6-0 win over WHS’ Madi Koski.

Westwood was scheduled to play Ishpeming this morning and Iron Mountain this afternoon, but rain postponed those matches. Negaunee hosts West Iron County at 10 a.m. Friday.

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Marquette 6, Escanaba 2

At Escanaba, the Redettes swept doubles in the season opener, led by the No. 1 duo of Rachael Hunt and Ashlee Tripp taking a 6-1, 6-1 win over the Eskymos’ Heather Bergstrom and Renee Derrault.

In addition, Marquette’s Rachel Ely and Carly Sandstrom took a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Esky’s Alison Sommers and Claire McInerney at No. 2.

“The girls had a successful first match,” MSHS coach Derek Sandstrom said. “We had some jitters in singles, but we’ll get over that.

“In doubles, I thought all of the girls played well. Sydney Kivi played her first varsity match … and earned a win.

“Natalie Robinia also had a successful shift to singles.”

Kivi paired up with Kaeleigh Talbacka at No. 4 doubles to win a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash over Jessica Koish and Lauren Dykema, while Robinia was a winner at No. 4 singles with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Maddy Ide.

“I basically looked to see what their attitude is and what their efforts are,” Escanaba coach Denny Lueneburg said. “They looked lost out there at times but this is new to them.

“They all seem positive for their first time and they really got some experience.

“The doubles need a lot of work this year because we’ve got a lot of kids who have only been playing for four day up to four weeks.”

In all, Marquette doubles teams lost just eight games. Marquette’s other win came at No. 2 singles where Elysa Olivier fended off Megan Marenger 6-1, 6-1.

Marquette was scheduled to host Gladstone at 4:30 p.m. today.

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West Iron County 6, Ishpeming 2

At Iron River, the Hematites picked up one win each in singles and doubles as three flights went to three sets.

Ishpeming’s singles win came at No. 4 where Lexi Lyke dispatched Anna Malmquist 6-4, 6-3, while the doubles victory was at No. 3 with Audrey Stetson and MaKenzee VanBuren outlasting Aly Pangrazzi and Lexi Dominici 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

“We played well for our first match,” IHS coach Erl Langness said. “There were some good matches at No. 2 through No. 4 doubles and we were very competitive in singles play.”

All three three-setters came in doubles as WIC’s Emily Nelson and Tori Bociek took an up-and-down 6-0, 0-6, 6-1 win at No. 2 over the Hematites’ Korey Kaukola and Rylee Ring, and the Wykons’ Kali Dennis and Livea Mazurek fought to a No. 4 victory over Ishpeming’s Ellie Mashburn and Alyssa Smith 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

“This was a very competitive match,” WIC coach Joe Serbentas said. “Ishpeming has a veteran lineup of seniors and juniors who have lots of match experience.”

Like Westwood, Ishpeming was scheduled for two matches this morning but were rained out. Ishpeming has a match at Gwinn at 11 a.m. Monday.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee with contributions from the Escanaba Daily Press and Iron Mountain Daily News. Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

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