MARQUETTE — Even as head coach Kyle Saari experiments with his lineup a bit, the Negaunee boys tennis team looks as dominant as ever, pulling off a pair of 8-0 home victories over Ishpeming and Munising on Wednesday afternoon to improve to 3-0.

“This week our lineup is scrambled quite a bit as we want to get a number of kids some varsity looks,” Saari said in an email detailing the results. “(We are trying to) figure who we’ll be (putting in our lineup) come next week.

“Our singles players were pushed in spots (Wednesday), and everyone that had a tight set responded.”

While Nos. 1 and 4 singles and Nos. 1, 2 and 3 doubles had the same players Wednesday, the other three flights were changed between meets.

“Sam Ryynanen picked up his first varsity win, playing alongside Marshall (Knapp),” Saari said about his No. 4 doubles pair in the Ishpeming meet.

That duo put up an emphatic 6-0, 6-0 win over the Hematites’ Aaron Hudson and Davis Hyatt.

While Kolten Store had the same perfect score at No. 3 singles, several flights in both meets were quite competitive.

In the Ishpeming meet, Miners No. 4 singles player Max Larson needed a pro-style third set to hold off the Hematites’ Gideon Crook 6-1, 3-6, 10-6, while in the Munising meet, No. 2 singles player Kolten Store fended off the Mustangs’ Danny Goss 7-5, 4-6, 10-8.

Those were the only three-setters, though some straight-sets matches were also close.

Again at No. 4 singles, Larson beat Munising’s Dimetri Balko 7-5, 6-4, while right above him at No. 3 singles, Easton Alkire held off the Mustangs’ Michael Robinson 6-3, 7-5.

“Easton Alkire really stepped in nicely for us this meet,” Saari said. “He hustled down every single ball and that’s necessary to play in the singles lineup.”

Jhon Jarvi at No. 2 singles won a close 6-4, 6-4 decision over Ishpeming’s Kole Bancroft, then teamed up with Vince Tincknell at No. 4 doubles in the other meet to pull off a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash of Munising’s Ryan Vining and Kyler Bond.

“Vince Tincknell and Jhon (Jarvi) played well, and it was Vince’s first varsity win,” Saari said.

Ethan Harris posted a pair of victories at No. 1 singles, losing a total of five games in his two matches, while Negaunee’s top three doubles flights each only lost a small handful of games.

At No. 1 doubles, Nolan O’Dovero and Easton Guenette dropped four games all day, No. 2 doubles tandem Carson Lajimodiere and Quinn Walters also lost just four games, while the No. 3 doubles pairing of Hank Tincknell and Eli Cody suffered two just setbacks over their four sets.

After jamming in their fourth match this week at 4 p.m. today at home against Westwood, the Miners get a well deserved break over the weekend.

They don’t return to action again until 4 p.m. Tuesday at Gladstone.

Box scores:

Negaunee 8, Ishpeming 0

Wednesday at Negaunee

SINGLES — No. 1, Ethan Harris (N) def. Mason Bancroft 6-2, 6-0; No. 2, Jhon Jarvi (N) def. Kole Bancroft 6-4, 6-4; No. 3, Kolten Store (N) def. Joey Giroux 6-0, 6-0; No. 4, Max Larson (N) def. Gideon Krook 6-1, 3-6, 10-6

DOUBLES — No. 1, Nolan O’Dovero-Easton Guenette (N) def. Cayden Luoma-Grady Gauthier 6-2, 6-2; No. 2, Carson Lajimodiere-Quinn Walters (N) def. Levi Nicholls-Luke Laitinen 6-3, 6-0; No. 3, Hank Tincknell-Eli Cody (N) def. Dax Kakkuri-Ethan DeMarois 6-1, 6-0; No. 4, Sam Ryynanen-Marshall Knapp (N) def. Aaron Hudson-Davis Hyatt 6-0, 6-0

Negaunee 8, Munising 0

Wednesday at Negaunee

SINGLES — No. 1, Ethan Harris (N) def. Carson Kienitz 6-1, 6-2; No. 2, Kolten Store (N) def. Danny Goss 7-5, 4-6, 10-8; No. 3, Easton Alkire (N) def. Mickael Robinson 6-3, 7-5; No. 4, Max Larson (N) def. Dimetri Balko 7-5, 6-4

DOUBLES — No. 1, Nolan O’Dovero-Easton Guenette (N) def. Levi Westcomb-Jack Carlson 6-0, 6-0; No. 2, Carson Lajimodiere-Quinn Walters (N) def. Carter Rantanen-Blake Tyner 6-0, 6-1; No. 3, Hank Tincknell-Eli Cody (N) def. Zach Lindquist-Cayden Wieczorek 6-0, 6-1; No. 4, Jhon Jarvi-Vince Tincknell (N) def. Ryan Vining-Kyler Bond 6-0, 6-0

Marquette 7, Escanaba 1

On Wednesday at Marquette, the Sentinels won the only three-set match of the meet after Lucas Belkowski and Conner Henry roared back from early struggles at No. 1 doubles to slip past Escanaba’s Adam Prey and Cayden Flusher, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).

“It was a perfect day for tennis … and the boys didn’t disappoint,” MSHS head coach Karl Thomsen said in an email detailing the result. “At No. 2 doubles, the team of Lucas Belkowski and Conner Henry had an absolute battle with Adam Prey and Cayden Flusher.

“The Escanaba team came out on fire and quite honestly, took it to our team in the first set. To the credit of Lucas and Conner, they were able to have the memory of goldfish and play the tennis we know they can play the next two sets.

“It was a great display of mental toughness.”

But the Marquette coach was also pleased with the victory by his No. 1 singles player Chase Thomsen over Esky’s Nick Challier, 6-1, 6-2.

“On the opposite side of the fence, Chase Thomsen and Nick Challier had a highly entertaining match, as both of the kids hit quality shot after quality shot,” Coach Thomsen said.

The Sentinels are off the rest of this week, but have a trio of tough matches next week — home against Kingsford at 3:30 p.m. Monday, home against Negaunee at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and on the road at Kingsford at 4:30 p.m. EDT Thursday.

Box score:

Marquette 7, Escanaba 1

Wednesday at Marquette

SINGLES — No. 1, Chase Thomsen (M) def. Nick Challier 6-1, 6-2; No. 2, Connor Howes (E) def. Caden Lauren 6-1, 7-5; No. 3, Elan Chu (M) def. Loic Fletcher 7-5, 6-1; No. 4, Bode Helman (M) def. Jacob Prey 6-2, 6-0

DOUBLES — No. 1, Abe Kentala-Connor Stade (M) def. Andrew Lord-Alex Morgan 6-4, 6-4; No. 2, Lucas Belkowski-Conner Henry (M) def. Adam Prey-Cayden Flusher 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2); No. 3, Winston Leonard-Connor Dunn (M) def. Brandon Gardner-Logan Stephens 6-0, 6-2; No. 4, Billy Krebs-Cam Milewski (M) def. Dominic Parlato-Andrej Jankura 6-1, 6-0

Story contents based on emails received from Negaunee coach Kyle Saari and Marquette coach Karl Thomsen. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.