Bulldog Netters Split At Brookings Triangular

The Milbank Bulldogs tennis team split its matches during the Brookings Triangular April 29. The Dawgs slipped past Vermillion 5-4 before falling 9-0 to Brookings.

To start the day, Chris Loutsch and Ethan Bohn won the number three doubles match, defeating Vermillion in straight sets. Trailing 1-2 after doubles play, Milbank needed to win four of its six singles matches to secure the victory. They did. “Bohn and Loutsch came through again in straight sets to earn double winner honors,” said Milbank head tennis coach Jim Dahl. “Ethan had the difficult task of facing a number two doubles player who just previously had fought hard and defeated Milbank’s number two doubles team. Ethan took his opponents momentum away early with solid serving and ground stroke play, jumping out front 4-1 in the first set and never looking back.”

Connor VanVooren secured a number five singles victory as did Riley Folk at number two singles. “That (Riley’s win) was a nice turnaround after doubles play,” said Dahl. “Riley was the last player on the court with the team score tied at 4-4. It was a tight match which Riley kept close and helped solidify a singles and a team victory for the Bulldogs.”

The Dawgs then suffered a 9-0 loss to Brookings. “Brookings has a much improved team this year after only losing one key senior and gaining a solid foreign exchange player,” said Dahl. “Our guys had some very good singles rallies. I felt we were competing with them just not able to get enough key points, especially at deuce. We had a difficult time mounting any other real threats in any other sets, a credit to Brookings’ aggressive and consistent play.”

Noah Pillatzki had a solid performance in an exhibition singles match, narrowly falling 5-7. “He did a nice job of volleying angles at net and keeping his opponent back with deeper ground strokes.”

Following are the complete results from the Brookings Triangular:

Milbank 5, Vermillion 4

Singles

1. Adam Thomas fell to Sam Craig, 6-2, 6-1; 2. Riley Folk defeated Dan Robinson, 7-5, 7-5; 3. Mitch Quade lost to Avery Mollet, 6-4, 4-6 (10-5); 4. Ethan Bohn won over Owen Mechling, 6-3, 6-2; 5. Connor VanVooren downed Joel VanPeursem, 6-1, 6-2; 6. Chris Loutsch defeated Austin Davoux, 6-0, 7-5.

Doubles

1. Thomas/Folk fell to Craig/Robinson, 6-2, 6-0; 2. Quade/VanVooren lost to Mollet/Mechling, 7-5, 7-5; 3. Bohn/Loutsch won over VanPeursem/Davoux, 6-1, 6-4.

Milbank 0, Brookings 9

Singles

1. Adam Thomas fell to Baylor Dobbs, 6-0, 6-2; 2. Riley Folk lost to Salil Purandare, 6-0, 6-0; 3. Mitch Quade dropped to Jonah Dobbs, 6-0, 6-2; 4. Ethan Bohn fell to Dalton Rittershaus, 6-0, 6-1; 5. Connor VanVooren lost to Kevin Wu, 6-2, 6-2; 6. Chris Loutsch dropped to Hossam Halawerechle, 6-2, 6-0.

Doubles

1. Thomas/Folk fell to Dobbs/Dobbs, 6-0, 6-1; 2. Quade/VanVooren lost to Purandare/Rittershaus, 6-2, 6-0; 3. Bohn/Loutsch dropped to Wu/Halawerechle, 6-0, 6-1.

Exhibition

Noah Pillatzki fell to Alex Miey, 6-1, 7-5, 6-2.