Post-Bulletin staff
The Austin High boys tennis team remained unbeaten on its home court with a 6-1 win over Rochester John Marshall on Tuesday.
Although the Austin Packers won all four of the singles matches in the Big Nine Conference dual meet at the Paulson Courts, it wasn’t as easy as it looked.
Drew Halvin made it look easy with a straight-set win at No. 1 singles. John Register had a much tougher time at No. 2 singles. Register lost the opening set on a tie-breaker, but rallied to win a pair of close sets for the match.
Peter Lindahl dispatched of his opponent in straight sets at No. 3 singles for the Packers. Matt Duren then had his hands full at No. 4 singles. Duren won the first set, then lost the second set, before rebounding for a hard fought 6-4 win in the third set.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Highlights for us in singles were when John and Matt outlasted the competitors by staying focused and not getting tentative with their shots," Austin coach Tom Tauchnitz said. "Instead, they really took it to their opponents and both of our guys went out with three-set wins."
In the doubles matches, the No. 1 team for Austin of Bob Astrup and Jacob Brehmer had the easiest match of the day as they only lost one game in two sets.
The only loss of the dual meet for the Packers came at No. 2 singles. The Packers then finished off the JM Rockets with a wild match at No. 3 doubles. After taking the first set, Josh Detweiler and Andrew Heickley of Austin won a 9-7 tie-breaker to close it out.
"This meet was much closer than 6-1," Tauchnitz said in summation. "Our guys kept battling and came away with a conference win."
Austin (5-3, 4-2 Big Nine) plays in a conference dual meet on Thursday at Mankato West.
AUSTIN 6, JOHN MARSHALL 1
Singles — Drew Halvin (A) def. Tyler Shonkwiler 6-2, 6-1; John Register (A) def. Mitch Motsko 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4; Peter Lindahl (A) def. Rusty Decker 6-2, 6-4; Matt Duren (A) def. Thanh Truong 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
Doubles — Bob Astrup/Jacob Brehmer (A) def. Matt Rothschild/Michael Braun 6-0, 6-1; Max Heimer/Matt Bitz (JM) def. Chris Jahr/Matt Zastoupil 2-6, 2-6; Josh Detweiler/Andrew Heickley (A) def. Nate Polansky/Ben Ringhofer 6-2, 7-6 (9-7).
