Tiger tennis team suffers first conference loss

• Pat Meath

New Richmond's Pat Meath keeps a close eye on the ball as he charges to the net to make a play in Saturday's tournament.

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A split in their Middle Border Conference matches last week knocked the New Richmond boys tennis team out of a share of the Middle Border Conference lead.

The Tigers defeated Amery last Tuesday to run their conference record to 2-0. The first blemish on the Tigers’ MBC record came last Thursday against Altoona, where the Tigers lost 6-1.

Defeating Amery

The Tigers improved to 2-0 in MBC matches last Tuesday when they defeated Amery 5-2.

The Tigers swept the singles matches against Amery. Justice Harvieux led the way, winning the one singles match 6-2, 6-4. The Tigers didn’t lose a set in any of the four singles matches as Ben Chilsen, Jorden Aufderhar and Charlie Gartner earned wins.

Amery put the Olson brothers, Josh and Jesse together, and they beat New Richmond’s one doubles team.

The lone win in doubles came at three doubles, where Buck O’Flanagan and Cody Chouinard teamed up for a 6-1, 6-4 win.

Loss at Altoona

The Tigers suffered their first conference loss of the season when they dropped a 6-1 decision at Altoona last Thursday. Altoona was one of the top teams in the MBC a year ago and the Rails returned nearly their entire varsity lineup.

This was the first match where the Tigers were playing with a newly altered lineup. Coach Mike Montello shifted Aufderhar from three singles to the one doubles team. Charlie Kleiner rolled down from one doubles to two doubles and Dylan Zdroik moved down from two doubles to three doubles. Chouinard then shifted over from three doubles into Aufderhar’s spot in the singles lineup.

Montello said the move was made to strengthen the Tigers’ overall lineup. The move makes the Tigers more competitive at all three doubles flights. Chouinard has the athletic ability to flourish in the singles lineup.

“These moves are part of the transition a team goes through during the course of a season,” Montello said.

The Tigers’ only win at Altoona came at four singles, where Gartner scored a 6-4, 6-2 win.

Home quad

Saturday’s New Richmond triangular tournament produced one of the most unlikely finishes anyone is likely to find. The three teams, New Richmond, Amery and Baldwin-Woodville, all tied with eight wins in the tournament.

Most of the Tigers’ success came on the singles side of the ledger. Harvieux defeated his opponents by identical 6-4, 6-1 scores. Gartner was also a double-winner, though he had to pull out third set wins in each of his matches.

Chilsen and Chouinard each scored one win in their singles slot.

The only wins the Tigers could manage in doubles were at three doubles. Zdroik and O’Flanagan beat Amery 6-3, 6-2 before needing three sets to put away B-W.

Schedule

This will be another busy weekend for the Tigers. On Thursday they play an MBC match at Baldwin-Woodville. On Friday and Saturday the Tigers will be involved in a tournament at Eau Claire Memorial. The Tigers return to Eau Claire next Tuesday for a match at Eau Claire Regis.

New Richmond 5, Amery 2

Singles

No. 1: Justice Harvieux (NR) def. Nick Stewart 6-2, 6-4

No. 2: Ben Chilsen (NR) def. Levi Busse 6-0, 6-3

No. 3: Jorden Aufderhar (NR) def. Nile Merton 6-0, 6-0

No. 4: Charlie Gartner (NR) def. Josh Stewart 6-3, 7-5

Doubles

No. 1: Josh Olson and Jesse Olson (A) def. Drew Jensen and Charlie Kleiner 6-1, 6-3

No. 2: Mike Gillette and Darren Iverson (A) def. Pat Meath and Dylan Zdroik 6-2, 6-2

No. 3: Cody Chouinard and Buck O’Flanagan (NR) def. Micah Anderson and Chaz McCaan 6-1, 6-4

Tags: sports, tigers, tennis, prep