In the Thief River Falls match, Gabe Carlson and Sully Rufer at 2nd doubles and Isaiah Ibarra and Cohen Mannie at 3rd doubles all recorded their first varsity career wins.

TRF 5, FF 2
Singles
#1 - Jeff Cornelius (TRF) over Tyler Heruth  6-0, 6-0
#2 - Spencer Hempel (TRF) over Clayton Peppel. 6-4, 6-4
#3 - Kaleb Funk (TRF) over Leo Schierer  6-2, 6-3
#4 - Andy Dagg (TRF) over Dane Hare. 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
#1 - Lucas Rantanen/Carter Svensgaard (TRF) over Ben Koch and Will Vaughn  6-0, 6-1
#2 - Gabe Carlson/Sully Rufer (FF) over NAthan Dearth/Ian Lundeen. 4-6, 6-4 (10-7)
#3 - Isaiah Ibarra/Cohen Mannie (FF) over Kameron Price/Dawson Sheridan  6-3, 6-4

In the DL match, Leo Schierer got his first win of the season at #3 singles and Dane Hare also got his first career varsity win at #4 singles.  “We felt we were definitely in 5 or 6 of the 7 matches with DL and that made for an exciting match,” said Coach Abrahams.  “With more experience, we are hoping to turn some of the close losses into wins.”

DL 5, FF 2
Singles
#1 - Jude Houglum (DL)  over Tyler Heruth  6-4, 6-3
#2 - Max Splonskowski (DL) over Clayton Peppel  6-2, 6-3
#3 - Leo Schierer (FF) over Aiden Askelson 7-5, 6-2
#4 - Dane Hare (FF) over Beau Carlson 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
#1 - Nick Buboltz/Max Mercil (DL) over Will Vaughn/Ben Koch. 6-1, 6-1
#2 - Reece Winter/James LaChapalle (DL) over Gabe Carlson/Sully Rufer. 7-5, 6-1
#3 - Tristan Bristlin/Owen Lipton (DL) over Isaiah Ibarra/Cohen Mannie. 6-2, 2-6, (10-8)

“Overall, we are excited at our progress,” noted Coach Abrahams.  “With so many players in their first couple years of playing tennis, we are seeing improvements almost daily.  Tyler Heruth continues to grow at #1 singles facing the top player form each team every time he steps on the court.  He has shown he has the tools and mentality to play at the #1 position, and just needs to continue to get experience in that spot.  Our only senior, and captain, Clayton Peppel, continues to lead us as he takes that #2 singles role.  He continues to compete and is ready to break through at that spot.  It’s important to have a couple guys like these two to anchor the top spots in our singles lineup, always facing 2 of the top players from the other teams.”

“At doubles, Ben Koch and Will Vaughn have the most returning experience on the team, along with Clayton, so they continue to adjust to their new roles as our #1 doubles team,” added coach Abrahams.  “They continue to make progress with every match they play.  Doubles is as much bonding with your partner as it is the opponent you play, so with every match they play together, they will continue to grow.”

The Otters travel to Sauk Rapids-Rice on Tuesday to open their Central Lakes Conference schedule against the Storm.