Bulldogs Improve Play On Tennis Court

The Milbank Bulldog boys’ tennis team improved its play, but slipped 9-0 to Watertown April 12, and fell to 1-5 on the season.

“I felt that overall the team did a much better job of keeping the ball in play,” said head coach Jim Dahl. “We had less unforced errors and used strokes to give us a better chance of extending points. We need to continue to work on that and hit with the proper pace and spin to make our opponents play more shots. We had some very good points and began to string a few together, showing improvement against quality players.”

In junior varsity competition, David Basilio secured a single victory and Caden Ebsen and James Weber teamed up for a win in doubles.
Milbank will host Lac Qui Parle Valley on Monday, April 18, at Cantine Courts. Play is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.

Following are the complete results from the Watertown match:
Milbank 0, Watertown 9
Varsity Singles
1. Adam Thomas fell to Matt Gauger, 6-0, 6-0; 2. Matt Lenards lost to Brandon Lindner, 6-2, 6-1; 3. Mitch Quade dropped to Mike Kruger, 6-3, 6-4; 4. Max McCulloch fell to Alex Lehner, 6-0, 6-0; 5. Connor VanVooren lost to Tate Skogland, 6-1, 6-0; 6. Ethan Bohn dropped to Hunter Laqua, 6-2, 6-1.

Varsity Doubles
1. Thomas/Lenards fell to Gauger/Lindner, 6-0, 6-0; 2. Quade/McCulloch lost to Kruger/Lehner, 6-2, 6-2; 3. VanVooren/Bohn dropped to Skogland/Laqua, 6-3, 6-0.
Exhibition
Chris Loutsch fell to Jack Harrington, 8-2; Ethan Paysen dropped to Zach Binde, 10-0; Loutsch/Paysen lost to Jared Murphy/Jordan Urban, 6-0, 6-1.

JV Singles
1. Noah Pillatzki fell to Dawson Tschakert, 8-2; 2. Keaton Hagen lost to Parker Young, 8-1; 3. Alex Popowski dropped to Sam Hulscher, 8-2; 4. David Basilio defeated Skyler Nieman, 8-3; 5. Caden Ebsen fell to Eric Olson, 8-2; 6. James Weber lost to Adam Kays, 8-0.
JV Doubles
1. Pillatzki/Hagen fell to Blake Mitchell, 8-4; 2. Popowski/Basilio lost to Tanner Kluver/Jared Dale, 8-1; 3. Ebsen/Weber won over Shawn Homing/Jon Schamens, 8-4.
Exhibition
Nathan Loutsch fell to Jacob Meester, 8-1; Zach Aker lost to Davin Quail, 8-1; Loutsch/Aker fell to RJ Achterberg/Braden Bury, 8-1.