Cards fall to Warriors in tennis

Talk about it

The Cardinal boys’ tennis team lost a tough Central Lakes Conference match against Brainerd last Thursday.

The Warriors’ doubles lineup proved to be too much as they swept all three positions to earn a 4-3 win.

“The guys battled hard,” head coach Dave Ronning said. “I was very pleased with the effort, but the doubles teams from Brainerd were too overpowering for our guys. They had us on our heels the entire night as they pressured the net time and time again.”

Cody Nelson and Ben LeVahn took the first set of their third doubles match. The Brainerd duo of Chris Rud and Garth Askegaard rebounded after that to take the next two 6-3, 6-1.

Reggie Ronning, Connor Illies and Luke Eberly all earned wins in the Cardinals’ singles lineup. Ronning was at No. 1 6-4, 7-5. Illies and Eberly followed at Nos. 2 and 3 with straight-set wins, as well.

“Reggie, Connor and Luke were once again solid at their singles spots,” Ronning said. “Joey [Goeden] gave his opponent a good match at fourth singles, but Brainerd played a little better than we did. The guys are disappointed, but the season isn’t over yet. I think we still have some tricks up our sleeves.”

Alexandria fell to 10-3 and 5-2 in the Central Lakes Conference with the loss.

MATCH RESULTS

Brainerd 4, Alexandria 3

SINGLES – No. 1 – Reggie Ronning (A) def. Devan Larson, 6-4, 7-5; No. 2 – Connor Illies (A) def. Morgan Salo, 6-2, 6-4; No. 3 – Luke Eberly (A) def. Jordan Schlitz, 6-4, 6-1; No. 4 – Jordan Goos (B) def. Joey Goeden, 6-3, 6-3

DOUBLES – No. 1 – Cory Kuglin/Nate Henningson (B) def. Marvin Wensman/Jacob Otterness, 6-2, 6-2; No. 2 – Michael Ruen/Jared Anderson (B) def. Kevin Desautels/Matt Peterson, 6-2, 6-2; No. 3 – Chris Rud/Garth Askegaard (B) def. Cody Nelson/Ben LeVahn, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, boys, tennis, brainerd