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MARQUETTE -- Maybe ties aren't so bad if you spend most of the rest of your time winning.
You can still have an undefeated record, for one thing.
Marquette tied a pair of high school girls tennis meets 4-4 over two days earlier this week, but also won their other match during a two-meet road trip on Monday.
Meanwhile, Westwood also picked up a victory, though it only needed one meet to achieve that.
Both Marquette County teams along with Negaunee and several others from outside the area will be at the Westwood Invitational at 10 a.m. today at the Patriots' courts in Ishpeming.
Westwood also hosts both Marquette and Gladstone in matches on Monday morning and afternoon, respectively.
Here are details from the recent matches:
Marquette 4, Kingsford 4
At Kingsford on Monday, Marquette bailed out the tie by sweeping all four doubles flights after the host Flivvers pulled that same trick at singles.
The Sentinels won the two three-set matches by the No. 1 doubles tandem of Eva Kentala and Charlotte Thomsen and No. 3 doubles duo of Grace Jandreau and Brynn Helman.
"In Kingsford we had two evenly matched teams," MSHS head coach Karl Thomsen said in an email detailing the results. "Our singles girls battled well and a couple of our doubles teams came up clutch.
"At No. 1 doubles, Eva Kentala and Charlotte Thomsen waffled a little in Set 1, but rebounded nicely to take the last two sets. They did a good job of limiting their errors in the last two sets and also swinging through the ball on their groundstrokes.
"At No. 3 doubles, Grace Jandreau and Brynn Helman really stepped their game up in the last two sets. They made things simple with quality returns and taking over the net."
Marquette's other winners were the No. 2 doubles pairing of Lola Rink and Morgan Downey and No. 4 doubles partnership of Eileen Quigley and Izzie Holoway.
Marquette 7, W. Iron Cty. 1
At Iron River later Monday, the Sentinels again swept doubles, not needing a third set in any of those matches, while also winning three of four in singles.
The meet's only three-setter came at No. 2 singles, where Marquette's Kirra Longtine prevailed. Singles teammates Sydney Kuhl at No. 3 and Kaylee Holzer at No. 4 were straight-sets victors.
The same four doubles pairings that won at Kingsford also won against the Wykons.
"I was thrilled with the way our girls finished the doubleheader versus West Iron County," Thomsen said. "We had some battles with Kingsford earlier in the day, our girls were a little gassed, but they stepped up.
"Sydney Kuhl played a grinder of a match at No. 3 singles. Mentally, Sydney was a beast out there. It was her first day of singles for the season and she showed some veteran-like qualities. She was super methodical about where she hit the ball and extremely patient on the long points.
"Kirra Longtine showed a lot of growth from Set 1 to Sets 2 and 3 during her match at No. 3 singles.
"Early on Kirra was frustrated with her own play. As the match progressed, it was great to watch her footwork and shot selection improve. A match like this should give her a lot of confidence in the future."
Westwood 5, Escanaba 3
At Westwood on Tuesday, Westwood lost two of three tiebreakers that decided sets and only split a pair of three-set matches, but in the end, taking three of four doubles encounters put the Patriots over the top.
"We had a lot of really competitive matches across the board," Westwood head coach Sarah Zindler said in her email detailing the results. "Eliisa Doney played a great match at No. 2 singles. This is her first year playing singles and she's really starting to adjust to it and find the style of play that works for her.
"Tessa (Burke) and Ella (Stacy) also played a great match at No. 1 doubles. They are great doubles partners to each other and have both upped their intensity this year to play ... as well as they have so far."
Doney's victory was 6-1, 6-1 over Escanaba's Olivia Vogel, while Burke and Stacy prevailed 6-3, 6-4 over the Eskymos' Sophie Hill and Claire Jacobsen.
The Patriots' three-set victory came via No. 4 singles player Isabel Belpedio, while its 7-6 set win on a tiebreaker, with a 7-4 win in that tiebreaker, going to the No. 4 doubles tandem of Jenna Marana and Brie Mahaffey.
Marquette 4, Escanaba 4
At Marquette later on Tuesday, Escanaba played an even closer meet, splitting 2-2 in both singles and doubles.
Two doubles matches went three sets, the Sentinels winning one of them by No. 3 Charlye Swajanen and Eva Dewitt.
"(This was) another tie versus another (Great Northern Conference) opponent," Thomsen said in his comments about this meet. "I know it is early in the season, but that is forecasting for a really good battle come conference tournament time.
"As far as these matches, there was lots of good tennis where the outcome could have gone the other way.
"Eva Dewitt and Charlye Swajanen showed some senior grit today at No. 3 doubles. They definitely had a little rust, but stepped it up at the critical points.
"Sydney Kuhl played another fundamentally sound match at No. 4 singles. She is an athlete that in this early part of the season has taken big strides each match."
Dewitt and Swajanen won 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 10-5 over Esky's Emma Landwehr and Cora Dittrich, while Kuhl got a victory 6-3, 6-1 over the Eskymos' Amelia Alimenti.
Marquette 4, Kingsford 4
Monday at Kingsford
SINGLES -- No. 1, Aubrie Moore (K) def. Stella Dehlin 6-0, 6-0; No. 2, Maddy Sleik (K) def. Kirra Longtine 6-1, 6-1; No. 3, Aubrey Belmore (K) def. Sydney Kuhl 6-3, 6-1; No. 4, Chloe Lanning (K) def. Kaylee Holzer 6-4, 6-4
DOUBLES -- No. 1, Eva Kentala-Charlotte Thomsen (M) def. Mira Johnson-Kylee Woodard 2-6, 6-1, 6-4; No. 2, Lola Rink-Morgan Downey (M) def. Verity Martin-Natalie Bjorne 6-3, 6-1; No. 3, Grace Jandreau-Brynn Helman (M) def. Alice Hall-Myla Beauchamp 2-6, 6-0, 6-3; No. 4, Eileen Quigley-Izzie Holoway (M) def. Claire Rutter-Alaysa Bacon 6-1, 6-0
Marquette 7, W. Iron Cty. 1
Monday at Iron River
SINGLES -- No. 1, Grace Smith (W) def. Stella Dehlin 6-1, 6-1; No. 2, Kirra Longtine (M) def. Haleigh Lemay 5-7, 6-0, 6-1; No. 3, Sydney Kuhl (M) def. Ashlynn Nichols 7-5, 6-2; No. 4, Kaylee Holzer (M) def. Anastasia Dubiak 6-1, 6-2
DOUBLES -- No. 1, Eva Kentala-Charlotte Thomsen (M) def. Rochelle Bear-Marlee Benson 6-0, 6-0; No. 2, Lola Rink-Morgan Downey (M) def. Jenna Sunn-Lucy Farley 6-0, 6-1; No. 3, Grace Jandreau-Brynn Helman (M) def. Reese Ahola-Vivian Holm 6-1, 7-5; No. 4, Eileen Quigley-Izzie Holoway (M) def. Tessa Stapleton-Zoe Donati 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
Westwood 5, Escanaba 3
Tuesday at Westwood
SINGLES -- No. 1, Anna Martin (E) def. Lyn Magnuson 7-6 (7-5), 6-2; No. 2, Eliisa Doney (W) def. Olivia Vogel 6-1, 6-1; No. 3, Varrah Veeser (E) def. Emmi Carlson 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 10-7; No. 4, Isabel Belpedio (W) def. Amelia Alimatti 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
DOUBLES -- No. 1, Tessa Burke-Ella Stacy (W) def. Sophie Hill-Claire Jacobsen 6-3, 6-4; No. 2, Lauren Michaud-Richads-Makenna Olson (W) def. Isabella Noblet-Lily Benetti 7-5, 6-4; No. 3, Emma Landwehr-Cora Dittrich (E) def. Samiah LaFreniere-Emerson Williams 6-4, 6-3; No. 4, Jenna Marana-Brie Mahaffey (W) def. Alexa DeGrand-Ava Jackson 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
Marquette 4, Escanaba 4
Tuesday at Marquette
SINGLES -- No. 1, Anna Martin (E) def. Stella Dehlin 6-1, 6-3; No. 2, Kirra Longtine (M) def. Olivia Vogel 6-3, 6-1; No. 3, Varrah Veeser (E) def. Nora Skytta 6-4, 6-3; No. 4, Sydney Kuhl (M) def. Amelia Alimenti 6-3, 6-1
DOUBLES -- No. 1, Eva Kentala-Charlotte Thomsen (M) def. Sophia Hill-Isabella Noblet 6-1, 6-2; No. 2, Claire Jacobsen-Lily Benetti (E) def. Lola Rink-Morgan Downey 7-6 (8-6), 6-1; No. 3, Charlye Swajanen-Eva Dewitt (M) def. Emma Landwehr-Cora Dittrich 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 10-5; No. 4, Alexa DeGrand-Ava Jackson (E) def. Grace Jandreau-Brynn Helman 2-6, 6-2, 10-5
Story contents based on email received from Marquette tennis coach Karl Thomsen and Westwood coach Sarah Zindler. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.