HIBBING—The run for the Section 7A tennis title started Tuesday, and the Hibbing High School boys tennis team took their first step en route to the finals.
The Bluejackets only allowed Duluth Denfeld to win four games in the doubles as Hibbing went on to beat the Hunters 7-0 at the Lincoln Elementary School Courts.
It’s only one match, and there’s tougher ones in the coming days, but Bluejacket coach Gary Conda said it was nice to get this one out of the way.
“You have to start somewhere,” Conda said. “It’s good to get a win.”
Hibbing’s doubles teams dominated as Keaton Petrick and Whitaker Rewertz beat Connor Doyle and Lenny Jennings, 6-1 6-0; Joey Gabardi and Tyler Fisher beatValtteri Luhtalampi and Matt Eklund, 6-2, 6-1; and Brady Fosso and Benny Galli beat Sam Eklund and Nolan Fretag, 6-0, 6-0.
“In doubles, we pretty much dominated down the line,” Conda said. “They did a lot of good things. For the most part, they hit the ball the right way every single time. I’m happy with the results.”
In singles, Isaiah Hildenbrand beat Mathias MacMillan, 6-1, 6-2; Cooper Hendrickson beat Liam Doyle 6-1, 6-2; Jack Gabardi beat Daniel Pueringer, 6-2, 6-1; and Rex Walli needed a super tiebreaker to beat Jackson Chederquist, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4.
“We got something out of a couple of these matches,” Conda said. “I thought Isaiah played well at No. 1 singles. The MacMillan kid, he’s a decent player. Isaiah hit out today. He didn’t let up on him at all. I was happy with that.”
“I wanted Cooper to relax his grip a little bit, so he could get more acceleration on the racket. It makes a difference. He and Isaiah did the same thing. They were able to hit through the ball. That helped them big time. We accomplished that. It’s one small step at a time.”
Now, step two of the trip to the finals begins today at 11 a.m. when the Bluejackets take on Cloquet in Virginia.
The Lumberjacks have just enough depth to give Hibbing some fits.
“We did (beat them), but it was a good match,” Conda said. “Their No. 1 singles player is tough to beat. Their next best player is their next six players in doubles. It’s a challenge for us. It’s going to be a challenge.
“Our doubles are all going to have to play well. I expect the same thing that they might load that up again. We’re going to have to come to play.”
Hibbing 7, Duluth Denfeld 0
Singles: No. 1—Isaiah Hildenbrand, H, def, Matthias MacMillan, 6-1, 6-2; No. 2—Cooper Hendrickson, H, def. Liam Doyle, 6-1, 6-2; No. 3—Jack Gabardi, H, def. Daniel Pueringer, 6-2, 6-1; No. 4—Rex Walli, H, def. Jackson Chederquist, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4.
Doubles: No. 1—Keaton Petrick-Whitaker Rewertz, H, def. Connor Doyle-Lenny Jennings, 6-1, 6-0; No. 2—Joey Gabardi-Tyler Fisher, H, def. Valtteri Luhtalampi-Matt Eklund, 6-2 6-1; No. 3—Brady Fosso-Benny Galli, H, def. Sam Eklund-Nolan Freitag, 6-0, 6-0.
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