×

Marquette Sentinels, Negaunee Miners breeze to boys tennis meet victories

MARQUETTE — Marquette and Negaunee won rather convincingly in high school boys tennis meets held earlier this week.

The Sentinels traveled to Kingsford and won 7-1 on Monday, their loss coming in a three-setter, while the Miners were only tested in two flights of an 8-0 home victory over Gladstone on Tuesday.

Here are details from each match:

—————–

Marquette 7, Kingsford 1

On Monday in Kingsford, MSHS head coach Karl Thomsen was relieved just to see his players get on the court.

“So far, rain has won four of our six meets this year,” he said in an email detailing the result. “Just getting the opportunity to play was great.

“I thought for as little match play as we’ve had this year, our boys did a great job of doing little things well.

“(While) it’s a good win, there is still a lot of work to do in order for us to get where we think we can be.”

The Sentinels didn’t drop a set in any of their victories, while extending the match to three sets in the one they lost — a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 loss by Cam Mileski and Conner Henry to the Flivvers’ Brett Berglund and Ben Bracket.

Thomsen specifically mentioned his Nos. 2 and 3 doubles pairing for praise.

“Abe Kentala and Connor Stade played a fundamentally solid game at No. 2 doubles,” he said of their 6-2, 6-2 win over KHS’ Isaac Lebouf and Jacob Crockford. “This is their second year together and are starting to understand the geometry of doubles.

“Our No. 3 doubles team of Grady Schumann and Brady Janofski started out a little flat-footed, but really stepped up their game in the second set.”

Schumann and Janofski downed Kingsford’s Hunter Hulkonen and Fletcher Hulkonen 6-3, 6-1.

“On the singles side of things, Elan Chu at No. 3 singles and Caden Laurn at No. 4 singles had really good footwork today,” Thomsen said. “It seems simple, but using their feet to get themselves in the right position really allowed them to hit the shots I know they can hit. It was fun to watch.”

Chu chalked up a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over the Flivvers’ Evan Grymes, while Laurn won 6-3, 6-0 over Gavin Strong.

After a meet at Negaunee on Wednesday, the Sentinels were set to host Kingsford at 3:30 p.m. today, then host the Marquette JV Invitational for junior varsity teams at 10 a.m. Friday.

Things won’t slow down for Marquette next week, with four meets in six days and JV meets filling in the off days.

On Monday, the Sentinels varsity plays at Escanaba at 4 p.m., then hosts West Iron County at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and plays at Westwood at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. Saturday morning, May 18, will be the Negaunee Invitational.

The MSHS JV plays at Negaunee at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, hosts Gwinn at 3:30 p.m. Thursday and goes to the Westwood JV Invite at 10 a.m. Friday.

—————–

Negaunee 8, Gladstone 0

On Tuesday at Negaunee, the Miners were only tested twice in what turned into a relatively easy meet.

NHS improved to 7-0 while only being tested at all in a pair of flights — No. 2 singles and No. 4 singles.

In the other six flights, Negaunee lost a total of just three games, each ending either 6-0, 6-0; 6-1, 6-0; or 6-0, 6-1.

At No. 2 singles, the Miners’ Nick Kumpula opened with an easy win before outlasting the Braves’ Teagan Reynolds, 6-1, 7-5.

At No. 4 singles, Negaunee’s Ethan Harris lost a similar number of games, though he wasn’t nearly as tested in a 6-2, 6-3 win over Tyler Soderman.

Among those winning while no games or just one was lost was Miners’ No. 3 singles player Tyler Lajimodiere, who took a 6-0, 6-1 win over Gladstone’s Thomas Tackman.

“Tyler and Ethan have really begun to hit another level with how they’re playing,” NHS head coach Kyle Saari said in an email detailing the result. “Ethan is pretty smooth, and he’s come a long way fundamentally, while playing with a lot of confidence.

“As for Tyler, he’s been very motivated this year and that not only benefits him, but our team, too. He can play all parts of the court and it keeps pressure on anyone he plays.

“Each day is important for us to keep taking strides. We’ve understood that so far, and that’ll continue to be the emphasis each meet.”

The schedule is keeping Negaunee busy for the next few days. The Miners host Escanaba at 4 p.m. today before they head south to play in the Kingsford Invitational on Saturday morning.

Then they start next week with dual meets on back-to-back-to-back days, hosting Westwood at 4 p.m. Monday, playing at West Iron County at 4:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday and hosting Iron Mountain at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

In addition, the Miners host their annual Negaunee Invitational on that Saturday morning.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today