The Northfield High School boys tennis team provided new head coach Erik Swenson with three Big 9 Conference victories and a 3-1 record to open the 2024 season.
Swenson’s tenure as the Raiders’ coach opened on Tuesday, April 9 with a 6-1 win at Red Wing, which was followed by a close 4-3 loss to Rochester John Marshall in Northfield’s home opener on Thursday, April 11. To complete the week, Northfield posted a pair of 5-2 wins over Faribault and Rochester Century in a triangle meet played in Faribault Saturday, April 13.
“The Century win was the most exciting Saturday, because we weren’t expecting to do as well as we did,” Swenson said. “Our doubles teams dominated and two out of four singles won, and third singles was a forfeit. Northfield hasn’t done that well against Century for a long time. Very excited for the rest of the season.
Swenson added, “Our doubles teams are rock solid and hard to beat. I can tell they’ve been working hard in the off season because their skills really show. The John Marshall loss was a heartbreaker, because we were down one singles starter because of a prior school commitment, so all the guys had to shift up one spot and played harder matchups than they were used to. This match could have easily been 4-3 Northfield, which would have made us undefeated so far in the season.”
In the win over Century, Theo Menk battled back to gain a 0-6, 6-1, 4-2 win at third singles and Eli Bengtson gained a 6-2, 6-4 win at fourth singles. In doubles play, Northfield won all three spots led by Joe Grant and Carter Borovsky at first doubles, Reuben Menk and Parker Sneaky at second doubles and the duo of Dyson McBroom and Kyle Buffer at third doubles.
The same line-up gained three wins at doubles against Faribault, while Theo Menk and Bengtson also charted wins at third and fourth singles respectively for the Raiders against FHS.
In the victory at Red Wing, Jackson Hessian scored a 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 win at second singles that was followed with wins by Theo Menk and Bengtson at third and fourth singles. In doubles action, Grant and Borovsky won 6-0, 6-0, while Reuben Menk and Sneary scored a 6-1, 6-1 win at second doubles and the team of McBroom and Bulfer won at third doubles.
In the match against John Marshall, the Raiders were swept in singles play but all three of its doubles team scored wins to narrow the score to 4-3.
Northfield played at Winona on Tuesday, April 16 and it will continue its season on Thursday, April 18 with a home match against Austin at 4:45 p.m. and a home match against Rochester Mayo on Friday, April 19 before traveling to Mankato East on Tuesday, April 23.
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