Luverne senior Becky Antoine zeros in on the ball during Monday's home tennis match against Sioux Falls Lincoln's junior varsity squad. Antoine posted a win at No. 1 singles to help the Cardinals collect their third straight victory.
By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne tennis team put together a three-match winning streak after topping a pair of South Dakota teams in Luverne.
The Cardinals edged Sioux Falls Roosevelt by one point Friday before posting a five-point win over the Sioux Falls Lincoln junior varsity team Monday.
Luverne, 6-3 overall, will play road matches against Springfield and Worthington today and Monday respectively.
Luverne 6,
Lincoln JV 1
The Cardinals had little trouble disposing of the Patriots in Luverne Monday.
Luverne's doubles teams swept their matches in straight sets, and the Cards went 3-1 in singles to win handily.
"I think we just took care of business," said LHS coach Greg Antoine. "We tried a few new combinations in doubles, and it turned out pretty well."
Luverne's No. 1 doubles team of Jenny Braa and Samantha Gacke notched 6-3 and 7-5 victories over Lindsay Ellison and Andrea Smith. Nikki Van Dyk and Lexi Jauert secured 6-4 and 6-0 wins over Jen Van Hove and Davi Griffen at No. 2, and Alyssa Klein and Andraya Gacke notched 6-2 and 6-4 wins over Linda Yang and Jamie Hylland at No. 3.
Becky Antoine, Rachel Tofteland and Gabe Van Dyk prevailed at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 singles respectively for LHS.
Antoine saddled Callie Wallenberg with a pair of 6-1 setbacks, Tofteland handed Paige Beck a pair of 6-0 losses and Van Dyk won by 6-0 and 6-2 counts over Emily Peterson.
Lincoln's A'nette Bertrand produced her teamÕs point by besting Brittany Boeve 6-4 and 6-0 at No. 4 singles.
Luverne 4, Roosevelt 3
Temperatures that reached the 90s ended up working in Luverne's favor during Friday's home match against Sioux Falls Roosevelt.
In a match that was decided by one point, LHS received two team points when some Roosevelt players had to retire from two matches because of the heat.
"It was very hot, and the windiest match we had to play in all year," said Cardinal coach Antoine. "Our girls had to overcome the heat and the wind. They were able to play through it."
The same can't be said about Roosevelt's Megan Hamre and Katy Olson, who retired from their matches at No. 2 and No. 4 singles.
Tofteland topped Hamre 6-3 in the first set of their match. The score was tied at four games each in the second set, when Hamre retired.
Olson posted a 6-1 win over Luverne's Boeve before building a 3-2 lead in the second set. Olson, who had played a match at No. 1 doubles prior to taking on Boeve, retired at that point.
Luverne also received wins from Gabe Van Dyk and the No. 3 doubles team of Klein and Samantha Gacke.
Van Dyk notched 6-1 and 6-4 wins over Laura Steineback at No. 3 singles. Klein and Gacke posted a 6-2 win over Susan Puetz and Cori White in the first set at No. 3 singles.
After both teams won six games during the second set, the Roosevelt squad won a 7-5 tie-breaker to even the match at one set each. Another tie-breaker was played to settle the issue, and the Luverne team won by a 7-5 tally.
Roosevelt's Olson and Ellen Kramer topped Braa and Nikki Van Dyk by 7-5 and 6-4 scores at No. 1 doubles. LuverneÕs Jauert and Andraya Gacke lost the first set of their match against Kate Person and Tommie Herrmann by a 6-2 score at No. 2 doubles before winning the second set 6-1. Person and Herrmann then won the tie-breaker 7-3 to take the match.
Roosevelt's Kacie Meyers topped Antoine by 6-3 and 6-1 scores at No. 1 singles.