Luverne’s Jessica Klein prepares to return a shot during Thursday’s home tennis match against Redwood Valley. RWV spoiled Luverne’s home debut by downing the Cardinals 6-1. Klein and Lindsey Severtson lost at No. 2 doubles By John RittenhouseThe Luverne tennis team split matches at different venues during the third week of the season.The Cardinals lost their home and Southwest Conference opener to Redwood Valley by five points in Luverne Friday before posting a five-point road win against Sioux Falls Lincoln’s junior varsity team in Sioux Falls Tuesday.Luverne, 2-2 overall, plays at a triangular meet at Sioux Falls Roosevelt Friday before traveling to Marshall Monday.Luverne 7,Lincoln JV 2The Cardinals recorded their second win of the season against South Dakota competition when they took on Lincoln’s junior varsity team in Sioux Falls Tuesday.Playing a more intense style of tennis, the Cardinals won five of six singles matches and went 2-1 in doubles to prevail by five points."We played much more aggressively," said Cardinal coach Greg Antoine. "I saw a number of girls going to the net and finishing off points, which is what we’ve been working on all year long. Everybody seemed to play well."Brittany Boeve, Jenny Braa and Nikki Van Dyk all won singles matches in straight sets. Boeve saddled Linda Yang with a pair of 6-1 setbacks at No. 2, Braa secured a 7-5, 6-1 win over Lindsay Ellison at No. 3 and Van Dyk notched 6-4 and 6-0 victories over Chelsea Koepsell at No. 4.Luverne’s Samantha Gacke topped Andrea Smith 6-1, 6-7 (5-7 in the tie-breaker), 10-6 at No. 1 singles. Kaitlyn Deragisch registered a 6-1, 4-6, 10-7 victory against Ellen Bubak in the No. 6 slot.Lincoln’s Emily Peters nipped Alyssa Klein 0-6, 7-6 (7-5 in the tie-breaker), 10-6 at No. 5 singles.Braa and Boeve secured 6-1 and 6-2 victories against Smith and Yang at No. 1 doubles, Luverne’s Andraya Gacke and Lindsey Severtson bested Peters and Bubak by 6-4 and 6-3 tallies at No. 3.Lincoln’s Ellison and Koepsell upended Heidi Sandbulte and Jessica Klein by 6-3 and 6-4 scores at No. 2 doubles.RWV 6, Luverne 1Luverne came up five points short during their home and Southwest Conference opener against Redwood Valley Friday.RWV swept the Cards in straight sets in four singles matches and went 2-1 in doubles to upend LHS."We just need to play smarter tennis," said Cardinal coach Antoine, after the match. "We made it awfully easy for them on some of the points. We didn’t play the angles very well. We hit the ball right back to them, and that’s a problem."Luverne’s win came from the No. 1 doubles team of Boeve and Andraya Gacke. They posted 6-2 and 7-5 victories over Lily Madsen and Kristina Schneider.RWV’s Caitlin McGuire and Ana Johnson saddled Jessica Klein and Severtson with 6-1 and 6-2 setbacks at No. 2 doubles. Veronica Fisher and Kim Kohlhof handed Amy Herman and Katie Kraetsch a pair of 6-1 setbacks at No. 3 doubles.Winning in straight sets in singles for RWV were Kate Maland (6-1, 6-0 over Samantha Gacke at No. 1), Alecia Prins (6-1, 6-3 over Van Dyk at No. 2), Alissa Mattison (6-4, 6-2 over Alyssa Klein at No. 3) and Samantha Boushek (6-3, 6-2 over Deragisch at No. 4).
