Post-Bulletin, Austin MN
The Austin Packers boys tennis team won its first dual meet of the season in Tuesday’s home opener at the Paulson Courts.
Austin won all but one match in posting a decisive 6-1 victory over the visiting Owatonna Huskies in the Big Nine Conference dual meet.
"What a great day for tennis and our guys played hard and disciplined," Austin coach Tom Tauchnitz said. "Highlights on the singles side were Matt Duren coming off a injured shoulder and playing an extremely tough match at the No. 3 spot. He played aggressive and went for shots when he needed too. I love Matt’s intensity on the court."
The only loss for the Packers came at No. 1 singles as John Register fell in straight sets. Patrick Wagner, an eighth-grader, played his first varsity match of the season and won in straight sets at No. 4 singles.
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Austin swept all three of the doubles matches to close out its first win of the season.
"Patrick played a consistent match waiting for his opponent to make a mistake and then, aggressively pounding the ball past him," Tauchnitz said. "In doubles, Andrew (Heickley) and Josh (Detweiler) had an extremely intense match where they stayed mentally tough and pulled out two tiebreakers to win the match.
"Joe (Urlick) and Chris (Jahr) had a tight match and when they played aggressive really took it to their opponents. Serving and volleying and chipping and charging their way to victory. They applied pressure when they needed to and that’s what got them through the match."
Austin (1-2, 1-1 Big Nine) travels to Faribault on Thursday for another conference dual meet.
AUSTIN 6, OWATONNA 1
Singles — Eric Zishka (O) def. John Register 6-0, 6-0; Dan Collier (A) def. Jan Iverson 6-2, 6-2; Matt Duren (A) def. Ty Haley 6-2, 5-7, 6-2; Patrick Wagner (A) def. Ryan Wachowiak 6-1, 6-1.
Doubles — Drew Halvin/Jacob Brehmer (A) def. Noah Eisner/Dan Borgertpoepping 6-3, 6-1; Andrew Heickley/Josh Detweiler (A) def. Steven Boutelle/Nic Leiven 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4); Chris Jahr/Joe Urlick(A) def. Joe Dingmann/Alex Apper 6-4, 6-4.
