By John RittenhouseA strong showing by four singles players Monday carried the Luverne tennis team into the quarterfinal round of the Section 3A Team Tournament.Playing No. 8 Pipestone in the first round of the tournament, the ninth-seeded Cardinals went 4-0 in singles to pull out a 4-3 victory over the Arrows.The win ups Luverne’s season record to 8-3 heading into today’s quarterfinals. The Cards will play top-seeded Lac qui Parle Valley at 4 p.m. today in Madison when the tournament continues."Our singles players won all four matches, and we needed every point we got," said Cardinal coach Greg Antoine. "Our singles continue to play aggressively, forcing the other players to hit winners or lose the point."Samantha Gacke secured 6-4 and 6-2 wins over Amber Baustian at No. 1 singles, while Brittany Boeve notched a pair of 6-0 wins over Tracie Eeten at No. 2.With Luverne’s regular No. 3 player Alyssa Klein unable to play due to an ankle injury, Nikki Van Dyk had to move into the No. 3 slot and Christina Lovett had to fill in at No. 4.Van Dyk blanked Heather Manderschied in a pair of 6-0 sets. Lovett topped Kaitlyn Templin by 6-3 and 6-4 scores at No. 4.Pipestone took all three doubles matches.Tory Hess and Abby Brady bested Andraya Gacke and Kaitlyn Deragisch with a pair of 6-2 scores at No. 1. Lauren Jones and Christy Cunningham defeated Heidi Sandbulte and Jessica Klein in a three-set match (3-6, 6-4, 6-3) at No. 2. Nagris Kabiri and Britt Sendelback saddled Robin Madtson and Amy Herman with a pair of 6-3 setbacks at No. 3."Our doubles teams didn’t play badly, they just couldn’t get other the top," Antoine said. "We played a nice match, and it was a good team effort."
