By Becky Walz,
The Decorah boys’ tennis team kicked off their 2021 tennis season Tuesday afternoon at home in perfect tennis weather with a 9-0 varsity score.
“Independence came with a very short-handed inexperienced team. That led to lopsided scores up and down the lineup. The guys had to work hard to keep their concentration levels high and work on good footwork and consistent hitting. This was an opportunity for the guys to start the season off in a positive way,” said Coach Reg Laursen.
In singles play, Gabe Anderson dominated the pace with a pair of 6-1 set victories over Nolan Reed in the No. 1 position. No. 2 Caden Branum walked away with two 6-0 sets for the match win over Aiden Anderson, while Daniel Skrade took the No. 3 win also in 6-0 sets over Kaleb Penner. Playing in the No. 4 slot, Brendan Hunter defeated Jaxson Latwesen, 6-1 and 6-0. Rounding out the Vikes line-up, Edwin Holyoake bested Andrew Ratchford, 6-2 and 6-0, at No. 5, while No. 6 Luke Walter disposed of Brandon Yoder, 6-0 and 6-0.
Hunter and Skrade took on Reed and Anderson in the No. 1 doubles match, defeating the Huskies 6-2 and 6-1. Holyoake and Noah Tapscott ended Penner and Ryan DeBoer’s day with a pair of 6-0 set victories. Finishing out the perfect day with two 6-0 sets were Michael Njus and Aidan Nalean-Carlson in Decorah’s No. 3 slot. They defeated Latwesen and Ratchford.
Eight other Vikings were sent in waves at two Independence JV players, while 10 other Decorah netters played five intersquad matches.
Grant Timm, Thomas Foster, Benton Sparrow, Kolten Gossman, Gabriel Hiner, Lucas Arendt, Seth Thompson and James Alberts were the JV competitors who compiled a record of three wins, two loses and three ties.
The team is looking forward to traveling Friday, April 9, at 4:30 p.m., to Winona Cotter on who is a perennially strong team. Next week, the Vikes visit Waverly-Shell Rock Tuesday, April 13, at 4:30 p.m.
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