Viking netters start the week 1-1

By Becky Walz,

Friday, April 29, 2022 3:57 pm

Getting matches in back-to-back days, the Decorah boys’ tennis team lost to Class 2A opponent Mason City and shut out Oelwein Tuesday.

Getting matches in back-to-back days, the Decorah boys’ tennis team lost to Class 2A opponent Mason City and shut out Oelwein Tuesday.

On the road 
Monday, the Vikings traveled to Mason City to face a tough 2A opponent on a cold windy day losing 1-8.  
In singles, Caden Branum continued his hot start, winning 6-2, 6-4.  Daniel Skrade at No. 2, Michael Njus at No. 5 and Liam Chamberlain at No. 6 all had opportunities in very close hard fought matches before falling.  
All three doubles went to Mason City as Decorah fought hard but struggled to change momentum.  
Coach Anderson commented, “There was a point there where it looked like we would win four singles matches against a tough opponent, but momentum turned in a 5-minute period and that carried over to our doubles play. I’m confident those close matches will be a learning experience and will go our way in the future.”

Singles: No. 1 Caden Branum won 6-2, 6-4; No. 2 Daniel Skrade lost 4-6, 4-6; No. 3 Landon Baker lost 2-6, 1-6; No. 4 Brendan Hunter lost 0-6, 1-6; No. 5 Michael Njus lost 6-4, 3-6, (8-10); No. 6 Liam Chamberlain lost 4-6, 7-5, (7-10)
Doubles: No. 1 Caden Branum/Daniel Skrade lost 3-6, 0-6; No. 2 Landon Baker/Michael Njus lost 3-6, 4-6; No. 3 Aidan Nalean-Carlson/Liam Chamberlain lost 5-7, 3-6

?The shut-out

Decorah hosted Oelwein at the city courts prevailing 9-0 Tuesday. 
This was an opportunity to put a few new faces into the varsity lineup and Decorah’s depth was apparent in singles, while Oelwein put up a good fight in doubles. Decorah’s coaches asked their players to work on being aggressive and it showed in the results.  
“It was fun to see seniors Nolan Jacobsen, Wyatt Hackman and Grant Timm get to see action and prevail. These are some of the players who come to practice every day, do everything I ask of them to help the team grow and get better.  I wish we had more opportunities to get them on court,” commented coach Anderson.  

Singles: No. 1 Landon Baker won 6-0, 6-0; No. 2 Brendan Hunter won 6-0, 6-0; No. 3 Michael Njus won 6-0, 6-0; No. 4 Liam Chamberlain won 6-0, 6-1; No. 5 Aidan Nalean-Carlson won 6-0, 6-1; No. 6 Nolan Jacobsen won 6-0, 6-0
Doubles: No. 1 Landon Baker/Michael Njus won 6-1, 6-1; No. 2 Aidan Nalean-Carlson/Liam Chamberlain won 6-3, 6-0; No. 3 Wyatt Hackman/Grant Timm won 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)

More action this week
The Vikings will host Viroqua Friday, April 29, at 4 p.m., in a make-up match from earlier this month. The postseason opens Monday, May 2, in the North Central Tennis Conference tournament at Waverly-Shell Rock at 9 a.m.

 

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