Negaunee’s Kenna Kontio plays a first doubles match at the Westwood Invitational Thursday afternoon, Aug. 25, 2017. (Journal photo by Rachel Oakley)

ISHPEMING — It was a chilly yet beautiful day for the Westwood Invitational high school girls tennis tournament held Thursday afternoon.

In the round-robin format where every competitor played each opponent in their flight for one set, Negaunee dominated much as it has in four dual meets this season, piling up 44 set victories to win going away for its third consecutive title in this event.

West Iron County was second with 31 wins, followed by Marquette with 30, the host Patriots 26, Menominee 19, Gladstone 10 and Kingsford 8.

Negaunee head coach Kyle Saari said his team gave a solid performance, posting the best or second-best record in seven of the eight flights.

“It was a good performance for us depth-wise,” he said. “Out of 48 total sets we won 44 of them, you can’t really ask for much more than that; everyone finished the day, grinded it out and I’m happy with their performance.”

Saari added these invitational meets are beneficial for several reasons.

“It was a good day for all of the schools,” Saari said. “It’s a fun and competitive environment. Being a round-robin, you see everybody briefly by playing a set and then you see where you measure up.”

At No. 1 doubles, Abby Nelson with Mykenna Kontio led the day for the Miners as all four of its doubles tandems went a perfect 6-0.

Nelson said patience was key as the invitational tournament is a fun way to see how other teams compete and perform.

“We played with a lot of patience and finished points when we got the chance,” Nelson said. “These invites are nice because you get to see a lot of different teams and different styles of play.”

Kontio, on the other hand, looks at the tournament as a way to scout other teams before postseason play that will include the Mid-Peninsula Conference and Upper Peninsula Finals tournaments.

“It’s a way to see all of the different teams play and to see what it’s going to be like for the M-PC and U.P. Finals,” Kontio said.

Other 6-0 sweeps for Negaunee came from Maci Aho at No. 4 singles, Skylar Taavola and Lexi Taavola at No. 2 doubles, Alexis Hill and Kalli Mattson at No. 3 doubles and Faith Toutant and Jillian Skewis at No. 4 doubles.

Tournament director and Westwood head coach Chris Jackson said there’s a lot that goes in to putting the event on, so he’s happy other coaches and teams enjoy it.

“It takes a lot to put this on, there’s a lot of moving parts to this,” Jackson said. “Trying to keep everybody going is a lot more difficult than it looks.”

To keep a steady flow going, the event was spread across courts in three school districts — Negaunee, Ishpeming and the NICE courts at Westwood.

West Iron County also put up a solid day with Katarina Serbentas going 6-0 at No. 1 singles. Teammate and No. 3 singles player Izzy Hoogenboom was 5-1.

Wykons head coach Joe Serbentas said it’s been a good season so far with its only loss coming to Negaunee.

“I thought my team performed well overall,” Serbentas said. “We have a pretty deep squad and I think we can match up with a lot of teams at these invites.”

Serbentas added the invitationals help players improve.

“These invites are really good for development,” Serbentas said. “You go in, play one set and then you’re getting a brand new opponent and you can clear your mind; so I think it’s a benefit to the girls to do one of these.”

For Marquette, Elysa Olivier led the way at No. 2 singles, going 6-0. Teammate Hannah Swajanen was 5-1 at No. 1 singles while the pairing of Sydney Kivi and Kaeleigh Talbacka also went 5-1 at No. 3 doubles.

MSHS head coach Derek Sandstrom said it was refreshing to see different teams at the tournament after playing three matches earlier this week.

“It was nice to see a few new teams here,” Sandstrom said. “The nice part about these invitationals is you see a variety of girls play and if you’re playing, you always have a chance to redeem yourself.”

Sandstrom added that he saw several good things out of his team.

“I saw some good intensity, the singles girls are starting to build up the tenacity,” Sandstrom said. “For doubles, we still need to work on some positioning and movement; a little more consistency as well but it’s early in the season.”

Negaunee and Marquette return home for Monday morning matches, the Miners to face Kingsford and Redettes to take on Iron Mountain. Westwood travels to WIC for a Tuesday afternoon meet.

Email Ryan Spitza at sports@miningjournal.net.