The Ellsworth Panthers tennis team went 1-1 in their two meets this week, losing 7-0 to Altoona on Tuesday before beating Chippewa Falls 4-3 on Thursday.

It was close, but the Panthers won their first meet of the season this week. It was close throughout with the difference in the victory coming down to #4 singles player Matthew Lundstrom’s match. It was Lundstrom’s first varsity win and Ellsworth’s first team win in at least four years, according to Head Coach Beth Friedrichsen.

“It was so exciting,” Friedrichsen said. “They all played really well and have made huge gains in their confidence and just basic understanding of how to play the game. It’s been a fun season.”

After beating Chippewa Falls, the Panthers went back to Altoona to finish their rained-out match from earlier in the week. Even though they finished with a 7-0 loss, Coach Friedrichsen says there are a lot of positives that come from playing higher levels of competition.

“Altoona has a strong program that starts early, and they work all the time. Playing teams like them gives the boys goals to work toward,” Friedrichsen said.

This week, the Panthers will have the Middle Border Conference tournament, which will be another learning experience for the team. Then on Thursday, they are going to Altoona for a doubles only tournament, which they have never done before, but Friedrichsen says the boys are really excited about it. 

“All the players will be playing doubles, so they will play three matches of doubles,” Friedrichsen said. “It should be a fun filled week of tennis.” 

After this week, the Panthers will look towards subsectionals next Monday in La Crosse.

River Falls

The River Falls Wildcats tennis team played seven different teams this week, winning four of their matches and losing three. It was a marathon for the players, but they came out ahead at the end of it.

The Wildcats’ first two matches came on Monday, and they were nearly perfect going 6-1 against Ashland and 7-0 against Superior. Play continued on Tuesday and Thursday with back-to-back losses, first falling to Eau Claire North 5-2 and then losing a heartbreaker to New Richmond 4-3. They wrapped up play on Friday with a tournament where they went 2-1: beating La Crosse Logan 5-2, losing to Altoona 6-1 and then beating West Salem 4-3.

It was an especially good week for the doubles players who took home a complete sweep on Monday in all eight matches against Superior and Ashland and garnered River Falls’ only two wins on Tuesday against Eau Claire North. The duo of Henry Whipkey and Sam Majerus went 6-0 in their games together this week, and none of them were particularly close. As a whole, the doubles teams finished 16-5 this week, and were the driving force behind much of their success.

Up next for the Wildcats is a significantly less packed week with just two meets on the docket. First, is a Big Rivers Conference meet at Eau Claire Memorial on Tuesday at 9 a.m., and then they finish up their week with a non-conference trip to Baldwin-Woodville at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday.