By Matt Neilsen

Valley City, ND (NEWSDAKOTA.com) – Both the Packers and the Hi-Liners were looking for their first EDC win on the season in VC on Tuesday.

Results (VC Always Listed First):

VC 8

WF 1

Singles:

1. Kai Kringlie defeated Ethan Heiden 7-5, 6-4
2. Trey Cope defeated Alex Haugen 6-2, 6-4
3. Alex Rogelstad lost to John Sikorski 6-1, 3-6, 10-8
4. Miles Taylor defeated Owen Haugen 6-1, 6-0
5. Casey Kruger defeated Eli Steckler 7-5, 6-3
6. Max Magnuson defeated Riley Kleven 6-1, 6-0

Doubles:

1. Kringlie/Rogelstad defeated A.Haugen/Sikorski 3-6, 6-3, 10-6
2. Cope/Taylor defeated O.Haugen/Steckler 6-1, 6-0
3. Maguson/Jayden Johnson defeated Trey Lehr/Tyger Albano 6-2, 6-2

JV Records vs West Fargo:

Emmett Olson 2-0

Gavin Swenson 0-1

Kellen Westman 3-0

Colin Hoff 2-1

Quin Kruger 3-0

Emery Olson 2-1

Cole Haugen 3-0

Matthew Holm 3-0

Noah Tulp 1-1

Jon Koenig 2-1

Jack Nadeau 2-0

Jared Burk 2-0

Tyler Kotta 2-1

Adrian Rivera 0-2

Jacob Fritchie 0-3

Coaches Thoughts:

We played our most complete match to date. We were a little slow to get going in #1 doubles and we still sometimes lose our focus for little stretches overall, but these stretches are getting fewer and shorter. Way to keep improving fellas.

Kai played a tight match against a great player in Ethan. Ethan took 5^th place at the Sheyenne Invite, but Kai had his number today executing his game plan of hitting low slice to the backhand.  Alex and Kai also won today which puts them at 4 wins in the EDC at #1.

Trey and Miles played a no doubter in their doubles match which puts that at 5-1 in EDC play. Trey then battled to win his singles. Miles followed up that doubles play with his most complete match of the season in singles.  He was moving his feet, racquet prepping, and attacking to win dropping only 1 game.

Jayden has been fighting injury all season, but felt he was good to go today. Max and Jayden played very well together and cruised to a win. Max followed that up with his first singles win on the year with good serving and consistent ground strokes.

Casey finished off his match against a pesky opponent. He is a tricky person to play as he comes to the net more frequently than most.  Casey plays where he is needed and gives his all to wherever the coaches asks him to play each match. We appreciate you, Casey, and you will be a big part of our push to try to state qualify as a team.

The JV had some ups and downs today. If we played loose and had fun, we played at a high level. If we weren’t having fun, we also weren’t playing well. Seeing this was a great learning experience for our players. Jon and Tyler both had an ‘off’ first match, but both played excellent tennis in their next two matches when they were having fun and believing in themselves and their strokes.  Nice bounce back you two.

Adrian and Jacob both continue to improve with their consistency and their attacking the ball at the net. Kellen was a great partner to Tyler supporting him and breathing confidence in him. With Kellen’s support, Tyler played his best match of the season. Great job both of you!

Next action is on Thursday at Davies at 4pm.