Submitted by Matt Nielsen
WAHPETON, ND (NewsDakota.com) – The #9 seeded Hi-Liners went to Wahpeton and knocked off the #8 Huskies in the EDC Tennis Play-In Match in a 3-2 post-season line-up.
Results: VC Always listed first
1S. Kai Kringlie defeated Matt Comings 6-1, 6-1
2S. Trey Cope defeated Andrew Withuski 6-7(3), 7-5, 10-8
3S. Casey Kruger defeated Jonas Kjetland 6-4, 6-4
1D. Alex Rogelstad/Miles Taylor defeated Alex Comings/Carter St.Aubin 7-5, 6-2
2D. Max Magnuson/Jayden Johnson lost to Garrett Anderson/Thadius Steinberger 6-2, 6-3
Coach’s Thoughts:
What a team win today. We decided as a team a line-up that gave us a shot to win at every spot and our players finished strong today to earn the victory 4-1 after losing to Wahpeton 5-4 in the regular season.
At the beginning of the match, we were down a game on four of the five courts and it looked like we were in for a barn burner.
Kai was up 2-1 and then kept the pressure on to win the next four games to win the set. He followed the same game plan of getting to the net and finishing points in the second set to earn our first win on the day in short order.
Casey was down 4-1 in the first and rattled off 5 straight games to win the set. In the second set, he consistently was up a game on changeovers and finished the match 6-4. Casey played consistent, played good defense, and he attacked the ball. He has been playing well the last couple weeks and continued that play today.
Alex and Miles started down 2-1 and continued down a game until 4-5 before putting a three game win streak together to take the set. They kept the throttle down in the second set building a big lead and securing the team win for the Hi-Liners sending us to the regional tournament.
Max and Jayden played some amazing points. They were attacking at times and stepping into their strokes at the baseline and volleys at the net. When they stay positive and confident, their consistency goes up and their put-a-ways are golden. They put up a good fight, but Wahp got them today.
Trey battled all day long. He was down, then up, and then a tiebreaker. Down a set and down a game, he took a lead. That lead disappeared and then was down. With a shoulder that he tweaked during warm-ups, he started hitting underhand serves. He came back and won the last three games to win the set and force a supertiebreaker which he won 10-8.
We knew to make noise this year, we needed production from our entire line-up. Today, seniors Alex and Casey – our #3 and #5 – both played some of their best tennis of the season when it mattered the most.
With the win, we go into the team regional tournament on Thursday in the #8 slot and play #1 Red River in the opening round indoors at Choice Health and Fitness in Grand Forks at 10am. Win or lose, we are guaranteed at least one more match. To qualify for state, you need to win two team matches before you lose two.