Dutchmen tennis team defeats DCC 6-1
Playing in windy conditions at the St. Marys Area High School tennis courts on Tuesday afternoon, the St. Marys Area Flying Dutchmen breezed to a 6-1 win against the visiting DuBois Central Catholic Cardinals.
The Dutchmen swept all four singles matches and also won two out of the three doubles matches.
“After beating DuBois last week, we traveled to take on Altoona and Hollidaysburg in order to let our guys see two teams that play high-level tennis,” said St. Marys Area head coach Tim Henry. “The ability to handle shots struck with pace and precision, and to seize our opportunities when they present themselves paid off well tonight. The conditions were very windy, and the court surface was dry and loose, but I felt our improved focus on the ball despite those variables was a major factor in today’s win.”
SMA’s Luke Anderson defeated DCC’s Matt Volpe 6-0, 6-2 at first singles. At second singles, Dutchman Dawson Krug won 6-2, 6-2 against the Cardinals’ Luke Fragle. Third singles saw St. Marys’ Blake Hoffman defeat DCC’s Tyler Baird 6-0, 6-2.
“Our top three continue to play impressive tennis,” Henry said. “Anderson’s big serve and control of the point was key to his victory. Ditto for Krug. Hoffman is striking the ball as clean as he ever has. His net play and thunderous overheads stood out today.”
Completing the singles sweep for the Dutchmen was Dean Rakieski with a hard fought 6-2, 2-6 (107) win against DCC’s Daniel Jordan at fourth singles.
At first doubles, Krug and Hoffman teamed up for an 8-3 win over Volpe and Fragle, and Anderson and Rakieski teamed up for an 8-1 win against Baird and Jordan at second doubles.
DCC’s lone win came at third doubles, where the team of Hailey Semantik and Aiden Engle edged the Dutch duo of Casey Young and Evan Luckenbill 8-6.
“Young is also beginning to serve well at the right time in the season,” Henry said.
The Dutchmen are next scheduled to be in action on Friday when they travel to DuBois to take on the DuBois Area Beavers in a 3:30 p.m. match at DuBois Area High School.
“With our upcoming two good days of practice, we hope to build on our lessons learned as we prepare to take on DuBois this Friday,” Henry said. “(Today was a) good win over a solid DCC team.”