Austin defeats Blue Earth 6-1
Post-Bulletin staff
BLUE EARTH — The Austin Packers boys tennis team won six of the seven matches against Blue Earth on Monday.
Peter Lindahl, Rob Silbaugh, and Matt Duren all won at the top three singles spots for the visiting Packers in the non-conference dual meet. The Packers were without a couple of their top players, but they still rolled to the 6-1 win.
"We were missing four varsity starters, but still managed to pick up a win," Austin coach Tom Tauchnitz said. "The missing boys are on a DECA trip to Atlanta and we will be without them for three meets. We need our top junior varsity guys to step in and fill their shoes, and today they did that nicely."
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Lindahl and Silbaugh won in straight sets at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots. Duren won the opener in his match at No. 3 singles, then lost the second set, before closing it out with a 6-3 win in the third set.
"I thought Peter (Lindahl) and Rob (Silbaugh) both played excellent today filling in at No. 1 and No. 2 singles," the coach said. "I can’t say enough about our depth. We lose four guys and we still find ways to win matches."
Leading the way for the Packers in doubles was the No. 1 team of Bob Astrup and David Wiebelhaus. The Austin duo lost the first set on a tie-breaker, but battled back to win the next two sets and take the match.
"This was their first match playing together and they (Astrup and Wiebelhaus) did a fine job of communicating out there in a tough three-set match that was tiebreakers all the way through," Tauchnitz said. "Our junior varsity also won all but two matches again today, so as a whole we continue really improve ourselves each day and each match."
Austin (5-1) returns to Big Nine Conference action with a road trip today to Rochester for a dual meet against the John Marshall Rockets.
AUSTIN 6, BLUE EARTH 1
Singles — Peter Lindahl (A) def. Logan Becker 6-3, 6-2; Rob Silbaugh (A) def. Riley Holmseth 6-4, 6-2; Matt Duren (A) def. Garret Passer 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Aaron Willelmi (BE) def. Matt Zastoupil 6-3, 6-4.
Doubles — David Wiebelhaus/Bob Astrup (A) def. Matt Purris/Dalten Moore 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4); Tony Anderson/Jacob Brehmer (A) def. Drake Mimz/Wade Willhelmi 6-1, 6-0; Dan Collier/Trent Vandertie (A) def. Fredi Kneer/Hans Kittleson 6-0, 6-4.
