vc-tennis

WEST FARGO, N.D.(NewsDakota.com) – The Valley City Hi-Liner Boys tennis team wrapped up the regular season on Thursday with an 8-1 loss to West Fargo Sheyenne. With the loss the Hi-Liners will be the #7 seed and host a play-in match Monday afternoon.

Blake Triebold picked up a win at #1 singles with a 6-0, 6-0 decision over Ethan Raan.

Here are the results and Coach Nielson’s comments.

VC 1
Sheyenne 8
Singles:
1. Blake Triebold beat Ethan Raan 6-0, 6-0
2. Derek Bear lost to Drew Sperle 6-1, 6-0
3. Casey Kruger lost to Kasen Baer 6-4, 6-4
4. Ethan Bear lost to Noah Christensen 3-6, 7-5, 10-5
5. Max Magnuson lost to Will Solberg 6-1, 6-1
6. Alex Rogelstad lost to Mason Christensen 6-1, 6-0
Doubles:
1. D.Bear/Kruger lost to Raan, N.Christiensen 6-1, 6-3
2. E.Bear/Magnuson lost to Sperle/Baer 6-3, 6-2
3. Emmett Olson/Miles Taylor lost to Solberg/Connor Cook 6-0, 6-2
Coach Nielson’s Thoughts:
We made some trades with who was out today versus Tuesday; 2020 happens and we just roll with it.

In doubles, Derek and Casey played a very good match against Sheyenne’s #1 team. Derek was moving the ball around and attacking. Casey was solid in his first effort. Casey plays #3 doubles and brought it at #1 today. Casey continued his level of play in the singles match. He is our #6 and took Sheyenne’s #3 to 6-4, 6-4. Wow. Great job. Casey has improved. How Casey can take the next leap in tennis is with the mental side playing each point to win and playing loose.

Ethan and Max usually aren’t in our doubles line-up, but played #2 today. They pushed Sheyenne and had several deuce games that didn’t fall their way. These two built on the momentum they developed at Red River and improved as players and as a doubles team. In singles, Ethan had the #4 on the ropes with two match points, but didn’t prevail. That is crazy that our #7 almost beat a #4. Ethan had great footwork, shot selection, as well as a very good strategy to beat his opponent. Nice work!

Emmett and Miles played in their first varsity match today. The first set was a little deer in the headlights, but they fought through it and won a couple games in the second set. These two should realize that their time will be coming and they are an integral part of our team. Nice match today fellas. Alex played his second varsity match and he looked more comfortable. He has the knowledge, his next step will be to develop consistency.

Blake had himself a match today. After pushing the ball at Red River, he stepped into today’s match with a different mindset. He was having fun. He was playing loose and confident. He was going for his shots. I probably caught about 1/3 of points Blake played and he never hit an unforced error. The score was 6-0, 6-0 and Blake 100% earned that double bagel. I hope he had as much fun playing as his team, his coaches, and his fans had watching! Incredible.

As Sheyenne has eight courts, all the JV stayed with us. It was fun watching everyone on our team together. Kellen had the most fun on the court and was just excited to play and very encouraging to his partners. Gavin is always looking for coaching to get better. Jayden had an overhead that he smashed for a winner over the fence. Jared played singles and thinking about how far he has come this year put a smile on my face. Jacob is a team player that is a goofball with all of his teammates (in a positive way!). Colin, Matthew, and Noah have also improved a ton and have fun on the court. Winning isn’t about the scoreboard. Today – our entire team were winners with attitude, effort, teamwork, and sportsmanship. I’m proud of each of you.

As we lost the match, that drops us to the #7 seed. We will host West Fargo High on Monday at 4:30pm in the play-in game. The loser’s team season is done. The winner will travel to Grand Forks Red River on Tuesday to play in the quarterfinals. Here we go!