Card boys' tennis: Alexandria picks up win over St. Cloud Apollo, falls to Sartell

Talk about it

The Alexandria tennis team swept the singles lineup on its way to a 6-1 win over St. Cloud Apollo on Monday night.

Austin Storm anchored the singles lineup with a 6-2, 6-4 win at the top spot. Trevor Grandgenett won by the same score and Ryan Johnson made easy work of Cameron MacKinney with a 6-0, 6-0 win at the fourth spot.

Mark Kallevig had to work a little harder at third singles. He battled with Jordan McCall but came out on top in two close sets, 7-5, 7-5.

The second and third doubles teams helped the Cardinals run away with things with straight-set victories. Brendan Holm teamed up with Will Harding to win 6-2, 6-3 and Levi Duwenhoegger and Eric Branch won 6-4, 6-3 at third doubles.

“This was a good win for our team as Apollo had beaten us twice last season and they had all their singles players back from that team,” head coach Dave Ronning said. “The guys are starting to believe in themselves and their games, and now we need to come to play with confidence each and every day.”

Alexandria 6, St. Cloud Apollo 1

SINGLES – No. 1 – Austin Storm (A) def. Zach Hoggarth, 6-2, 6-4; No. 2 – Trevor Grandgenett (A) def. Levi Paul, 6-2, 6-4; No. 3 – Mark Kallevig (A) def. Jordan McCall, 7-5, 7-5; No. 4 – Ryan Johnson (A) def. Cameron MacKinney, 6-0, 6-0

DOUBLES – Caleb Johnson/Mitch Krueger (AP) def. Mack Wadi/Ben Von Bargen, 7-5, 6-2; No. 2 – Brandan Holm/Will Harding (A) def. Tyler Brock/Jordan Benson, 6-2, 6-3; No. 3 – Levi Duwenhoegger/Eric Branch (A) def. Logan Battig/Sean Michael, 6-4, 6-3

SARTELL 6, ALEXANDRIA 1

It was a loss for the Cardinal tennis team Tuesday night as the squad fell to Sartell 6-1 in Central Lakes Conference action.

Alexandria’s only win came at fourth singles as Ryan Johnson defeated Brandon Yurczyk 6-1, 7-6 (8).

“The match started well, with the Cardinals taking early leads at most every spot,” said head coach Dave Ronning. “We only managed to win the first set at two spots – second doubles and fourth singles.

“Ryan at fourth singles struggled through the second set, but got the win in a tiebreaker, and it proved to be the only point the Cards would get on the night.

“Ben and Will were at 4-4 in the second set after winning the first set, but couldn’t close the deal, and ended up losing in three sets,” Ronning added. “Trevor had a really tight first set in which he lost in a breaker, and in the second set, he started to cramp, and that made it much tougher to come back.

“Mack and Brendan had a 4-1 lead in the second set at first doubles, but they also wore down and couldn’t make a comeback.

“I believe we were feeling the effects of five matches in four days, and the guys ran out of gas,” said the coach. “We do feel that we can play them better, and the guys are looking forward to the rematch down the road.”

The Cardinals will host Willmar next Tuesday.

SARTELL 6, ALEXANDRIA 1

SINGLES

No. 1 – Zach Zitor, Sar, def. Austin Storm 6-3, 6-1, No. 2 – Jared Borst, Sar, def. Trevor Grandgenett 7-6 (7), 6-2, No. 3 – Brandon Schuchard, Sar, def. Mark Kallevig 6-1, 6-4, No. 4 – Ryan Johnson, Alex, def. Brandon Yurcyzk 6-1, 7-6 (8).

DOUBLES

No. 1 – Ricky Satterness-Joel Garbeich, Sar, def. Mack Wadi-Brendan Holm 6-4, 6-X, No. 2 – Ethan Lorsung-Carl Minnerath, Sar, def. Ben VonBargen-Will Harding 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, No. 3 – A.J. Fleming-Ben Marine, Sar, def. Levi Duwenhoegger-Eric Branch 6-2, 6-1.

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, cardinals, boys, tennis