Boys Tennis: Lake City doubles comes through in victory

LAKE CITY - It took three sets to decide all three doubles matches between the Lake City boys tennis team and Shattuck-Saint Mary’s Monday but the Tigers came away with all three points in a 5-2 victory.

Last year, Lake City lost 4-3 twice to Shattuck-Saint Mary’s, of Faribault, but smart play helped the Tigers (2-3) win this time around.

Junior Christian Custer won his match at No. 1 singles 7-6 (8-6 tiebreaker), 6-1 against Victor Ma. Custer’s size and speed made Ma attempt big shots with his forehand and led to numerous unforced errors. Custer was also able to shorten points by coming to the net and using his length to frustrate Ma.

“I knew he had a great forehand,” Custer said. “So I attacked his backhand. His forehand he could hit; with his backhand I knew I could get into the net.”

Gaining the first set tiebreaker was huge, Custer said, and he had little trouble with Ma in the second set.

“I knew if I won the tiebreaker, I had all the momentum,” he said.

Lake City head coach Dave Toole was impressed with Custer’s intelligent play in the win.

“Christian played well today,” Toole said. “He played smart. He kept the ball in play and let him make the error.”

No. 1 doubles partners sophomore Alex McCormick and junior Andrew Schreck survived a 6-3 loss in the second set to win their match 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 against Jimmy Lee and Jason On. At times, McCormick and Schreck looked overpowered but they continued to put shots back in play and allowed their opponents to make the mistakes.

“That was a nice win for them,” Toole said.

Sophomore Logan Adler and eighth-grader Brady Kuchinka also recovered after dropping the first set to win 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 at No. 2 doubles. Eighth-graders Eli Custer and Matt Kjos defeated Joe Qiao and Michael Znag 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to complete to doubles sweep for the Tigers.

Sophomore Landin Burdis won his match at No. 2 singles 6-3, 6-2 to secure Lake City’s fifth point. Junior Riley Forsell lost to Peter Jiang 2-6, 6-7 (3) at No. 3 singles and sophomore Cort McElmury dropped his match at No. 4 singles 2-6, 5-7 but Toole said McElmury has a bright future.

“Cort did not play well today,” he said. “But we’re working with Cort on keeping the ball in play. He’s going to be a real good player.”

The Tigers travel to face Winona Cotter Tuesday in Winona.

Tags: boys tennis, lake city, sports, prep