WHS TENNIS: Trojans sweep Arrows 7-0

WORTHINGTON — Although the weather wasn’t ideal, the Worthington boys’ tennis match on Tuesday couldn’t have gone much better.

The varsity squad defeated Pipestone Area 7-0 in the season opener and the first match on the new tennis courts by Worthington Middle School.

“They did a really nice job today,” WHS coach Mike Marquardt said. “Usually we spend our first couple of weeks of practice inside, so that first match can be rough. But we’ve been practicing outside since March 26 this year. So even though the weather was windy and cold today I think the kids were used to it. It helped with some of the butterflies going into the first match.”

The Trojans performed well against the Arrows across the board.

At No. 1 singles, Dan Wetering defeated Jarod Schiebout 6-0, 6-2. At No. 2 singles, Carter Lindner had the only match that went to three sets on the day. He defeated Avery Ploeger in the first set 6-1, lost the second 6-4 and came back to win the third 6-1.

At No. 3 singles, Andrew Johnson defeated Nathan Baatz 6-0, 6-1. And at No. 4 singles, Lance Homan defeated Trase Lueck 6-1, 6-0.

“I thought Andrew was really impressive at the No. 3 singles spot,” Marquardt said. “But Carter changed things around for us and had to fight back for the win. I thought he did a nice job. Overall, I was impressed with our serving and our ability to finish points.”

At No. 1 doubles, Jonah Oberloh and Matt Sorenson defeated Levi Carstensen and Jarod Carlson 6-0, 6-0. At No. 2 doubles, Ben Doeden and Dillon Pederson defeated Bill Smith and Chandler Haag 6-1, 6-0. And at No. 3 doubles Travis Vuong and Kody Honius defeated Joe Morgan and Nick Sysavath 6-0, 6-1.

“I thought we did good today,” Pederson said. “We were getting our shots in and I thought we had really good placement. I’m happy with how we’ve been playing together so far.”

Pederson and his doubles partner Doeden competed in their first regular season match together on Tuesday and fared well.

The two had played together briefly at the end of last season, but are excited to be a duo throughout the forseeable future.

“We’re working well together so far,” Doeden said. “We’re able to find the other team’s weaknesses and work that. We’re really gelling together so far.”

Worthington’s next match is Thursday against Redwood Valley. Pipestone Area plays again April 19 against Luverne.

Although Worthington put up a great performance Tuesday, there is still plenty that can be improved.

“I would like to see more movement at the net,” Marquardt said. “I want them to put themselves in the best spot possible to win some matches. Also, I don’t want us to give up any second chance points. If you’re giving people second chances, you’re giving them an opportunity to win that point. And those can be big points and then you find yourself down all the sudden. I’d like to see us work on some of those things now.”

In JV action, WHS’s Jonah McDonald and Tim Skog won 6-2, Larry Leovan and D.J. Berger won 6-5, Bryan Doeden and Caleb Dicksen won 6-2, Leo Duarte and Vince Nguyen won 6-3, Brandon Harberts and Sebastian Licea lost 6-5, Hsar Shwe and Josh McDonald lost 6-4, Nick Newman and Isaac Houselog lost 8-7 (7-5) and A.J. Hayenga and Kody Honius won 8-0.

Daily Globe Sports Reporter Jocelyn Syrstad can be reached at 376-7335.

Tags: pipestone area, sports, prep, tennis, trojans