By CADEN SIERRA

Journal Sports Writer

MARQUETTE — Nobody’s feelings should’ve gotten hurt in the opening high school tennis match of the season between Westwood and Marquette, considering the teams played to a 4-4 draw at the Shiras Tennis Courts in Marquette on Wednesday afternoon.

Diving deeper into the results, the teams also split 2-2 in both singles and doubles matches, and they were 1-1 in matches that went three sets.

“There was lots of good tennis and positives for the first match of the year,” MSHS head coach Karl Thomsen said. “Westwood always brings a championship lineup, so it is nice for our guys to get a feel of where we are and where we need to get to.”

And an extra bonus was the early onset of spring.

“The nice thing this year is the snow wasn’t there in March,” he said. “So we actually haven’t had to use our gym a whole lot and have gotten out on the courts, just working on the basics, groundstrokes, volleys and serves, nothing fancy.”

“I’m looking forward to watching this young group grow and see what kind of things they can accomplish.”

Meanwhile, Westwood’s head coach Sarah Massie said she was pleased just to get the season underway.

“(For) a lot of kids, this is their second or third sport where they want to come out in the spring and have fun,” she said. “Obviously, we want to be competitive and win, but we want our guys to be in spots where we can be as successful as possible as a team and let them all have some fun playing tennis and hopefully enjoy themselves.”

In singles, the Sentinels won the top two flights, Matt Barsch at No. 1 and Chase Thomsen at No. 2, while Westwood carried the day with No. 3 Mason Hietikko and No. 4 Mitchell Ford, Ford’s a three-set, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Marquette’s Caden Laurn.

Marquette won the lone three-setter in doubles when No. 2 Grady Schumann and Brady Janofski downed the Patriots’ Xavier Grondz and Damian Grondz 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

In other doubles matches, Westwood’s Cameron Mahaffey and an Karl Thomsen won at No. 1, while teammate Jayce Patron and Jaxon Alderton took No. 3.

Marquette also got a win from Connor Dunn and Winston Leonard at No. 4 doubles.

“Lots of good tennis and positives for the first match of the year,” Thomsen said. “Connor Dunn and Winston Leonard got a really nice victory in their first official tennis match. Just like in practice, they brought fire, competitiveness, and fun to the courts.

“Grady Schumann and Brady Janofski had a great come-from-behind victory at No. 2 doubles. I think they had some nerves early on, but settled in and really did the basic things well the rest of the match.”

Westwood won’t get much rest with another match at Escanaba at 1 p.m. today, while Marquette is off until 2 p.m. Monday meet at home against traditional Upper Peninsula powerhouse Negaunee.

Caden Sierra can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 551. His email address is csierra@nmu.edu