Armstrong boys tennis traveled to play Champlin Park last week as the boys tennis season got up and running, with Champlin Park winning 6-1. The game marked the opener for Rebels boys tennis this spring, while the Falcons arrived fresh off of a 6-1 win over Osseo.
Amid a week of schedule changes for spring sports as the weather had its say, the Rebels and Falcons met as planned April 4, with the temperature sitting at 50 degrees Fahrenheit at the start of the action.
Champlin Park’s Gavin Kelleher beat Armstrong’s Jacob Merriam 6-1 and 6-0. Matt George won two tight sets for Champlin Park, beating Ben Breitbach 6-4 and 7-5. Howie Foy won a good battle over Armstrong’s Ben Bernloehn, winning his sets 6-2 and 6-3. Josh Jebens completed the singles sweep for Champlin Park, beating Milosh Liudberg 6-3 and 6-0.
Armstrong picked up its one win of the day in doubles thanks to hard work from Adam Marsble and Arie Wilschut, who beat Champlin Park’s Gavin Ogdahl and Duran Huron 6-4 and 7-6. The Rebels ensured a strong win through their other doubles pairs, with Vincent Pham and Mitchell Palmer picking up 6-4 and 6-0 wins over Luke Azouay-Haron and Alex Doan. Alexander Nguyen and Riley Schultz also beat Armstrong’s Braeden Cooper and Ethan Masier 6-3 and 6-1.
Armstrong head coach Dan Schink noted that the team has had a positive start to the week with a busy few days, including some clear growth in their win against Osseo.
“I’m seeing a lot of growth. It was good to win at Osseo 6-1, but beyond that, the first match we won was third doubles,” Schink said. “The clinching match was second doubles. Last time we didn’t win any doubles. So having them not only be wins, but key components, was progress.”
Schink also noted that the team had positives to take away from the loss to Champlin Park, including some improvements in head-to-head results.
“Even though we didn’t get the outcome we were hoping for, we saw some growth,” Schink said. “At third singles, Ben Bernloehm has played Howie Foy three times. First two he went 0-0, then 0-1, now 2-3. We’re progressing the right way in some key spots. Ben Breitbach keeps giving Matt George a run for his money. ... Jacob Merriam gave Gavin Kelleher an early run. There was growth in doubles as well. They identified mistakes and reacted ... this is how we can correct those.”
The Armstrong team will had three matchups on the schedule this week,. The team hosted Park Center April 9 and traveled to St. Michael-Albertville April 10 (after this edition went to press), and will travel to Andover Thursday, April 11.
Champlin Park hosted Andover April 9 before traveling to Park Center and Coon Rapids on April 11 and 13 respectively.
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