GRAND FORKS, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The seventh seed Valley City boys tennis team met up with second seed Grand Forks Red River Tuesday in the quarterfinal round of the Eastern Dakota Conference tournament. The Roughriders came out on top 4-1, dropping the Hi-Liners to the consolation semifinals on Thursday.

Here are the results and Coach Matt Nielson’s thoughts:

Singles:
1. Blake Triebold defeated Espen Schneider 7-5, 6-1
2. Seth Zeltinger lost to Taylor Kuenzel 6-4, 6-4
3. Casey Krueger lost to Sam Murphy 6-0, 6-0
Doubles:
1. Kai Kringlie/Derek Bear lost to Karsen Johnson/Ryan Muizelaar 6-2, 6-1
2. Ethan Bear/Max Magnuson lost to Jett Weis/Kellen Johnson 6-2, 6-3
Thoughts:

We played some very good tennis for the second day in a row. After today’s loss, we will play at Fargo South in the consolation semifinals on Thursday at 4:30pm. The loser is out. The winner plays Friday morning in a state qualifier in Fargo.

Blake played a stretch in the first set tentatively and gave Espen an opening. Blake turned it around attacked the ball and the net. After falling behind 5-4 in the first set, he dominated the rest of the way winning 9 out of the next 10 games to win the match. Way to turn it around in the middle of the match!

Seth played a very good player in Saylor. Saylor was on his heals for a lot fo the match, but he played very good defense. Seth was bombing serves and Saylor would block them back to the baseline. Seth would hit a hard angle and Saylor would slice it back high and get himself back in the point. Seth is on the cusp of being an elite player. Once he adds in a consistent neutral/defensive ball along with a finishing shot at the net, he will be very scary. Excellent job today Seth.

Casey played against a tough opponent in Murphy, but we didn’t help ourselves either. Casey and I had a good discussion on the mental side of tennis by comparing it to when he pitches in baseball. I think we made a good connection and a breakthrough with that discussion. It won’t be like flipping a light switch, but we should continue to make improvements each day and each match. Here we go Casey!

Both doubles teams played up to their competition. Kai and Derek were in every point and every game against a team that potentially could be the #1 seed in the EDC doubles tournament. We were attacking balls at the net and moving across the court to do so. We were setting up and hitting hard consistent groundstrokes.

Ethan and Max continue to improve every outing. Today, they improved their footwork between shots which improved consistency at the baseline and also improved their quick volleys at the net. Both these doubles matches were very fun to watch as a spectator and a coach!

We have nothing to hang our heads about today with this loss. We came and we brought it. We had a great attitude and great effort. I’m very proud of our team today.