Eagles sweep Bluejays, end conference schedule undefeated

File photo by Travis Rosenau
New Ulm’s Joey Kotten returns a shot during a No. 1 doubles match on May 2 at New Ulm High School.

NEW ULM — The New Ulm Eagles swept the Waseca Bluejays 7-0 to end their Big South Conference boys tennis schedule with a perfect 7-0 mark on Friday.

No. 1 singles player Maverick Johnson beat Tyler Hellun 6-4, 6-3 to start the day off. Then at No. 3 single, Gideon Heins beat Otto Schoenrock 6-1, 6-4. The Eagles kept their wins coming after the No. 3 doubles team of Issac Dittmer and Eli Dorschner defeated Lucas McQuery and Brayden Hoof 6-4, 7-6 to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead.

The next three out of four matches did not start how the Eagles wanted them to, though, having the No. 2 singles, No. 1 doubles and No. 2 doubles all going down the first set.

No. 2 singles player Charlie Weidman got down early, losing a close first set 5-7. He battled back and won the second set 6-3. On the deciding set, he came out with a big win for the Eagles 6-4.

No. 1 doubles duo of Joey Kotten and Daniel Brownfield also started off slow against Dominic Grunzke and Oliver Rohwer, losing the first set 3-6. Kotten and Brownfield ran away with the second set, however, winning 6-1. In the pivotal third set, Kotten and Brownfield won a very back-and-forth set 7-6.

“We have not played Waseca yet this season, but they were undefeated, so we knew it was going to be a good matchup,” Kotten said.

The No. 2 doubles team of Aaron Black and Ethan Neet got down early against Tanner Hanson and Keenan Collins, losing the first 6-3, but they came back in the second set and won 6-1. The third set was a little bit closer with the score being 6-4, but Black and Neet pulled out the win.

No. 4 singles player Ian Schotzko got out to a hot start with a win over Armaan Bhatti in the first set 6-1, but Schotzko struggled in the second set with a 6-0 loss. He bounced back in the third set, winning 6-4 to finish the sweep for the Eagles.

“This game and the weather reminded me a lot of the St. Peter game, just a lot colder [against St. Peter],” Eagles head coach Peter Engeldinger said. “We won the first three very quickly, but our No. 1 and 2 doubles got down early. I look over and then they were up in the second set and pulled the game off.”

The Eagles (9-4, 7-0) will travel to Prior Lake on Tuesday for Team Section Quarterfinals.