MITCHELL – Aberdeen Roncalli picked up its first tennis victory of the season with a 9-0 triumph over Brookings after falling to Mitchell 9-0 during a triangular on Tuesday.

“It was kind of a tale of two matches, that’s for sure,” said Roncalli coach JD Carrels.

The Cavaliers started out the day against a top squad in Mitchell, led by veteran coach Pat Moller.

“They were ready to go and trained to come to the net as often as possible,” Carrels said. “Typical Pat Moller Mitchell tennis. They are a great team. I think they’ll definitely be one of the top teams in State A.”

Mitchell’s aggressive style put the pressure on the Cavaliers.

“It’s kind of the first team that we’ve played that really pushed to the net heavy per se and it took some of our guys off guard,” Carrels said. “They kept the pressure on and a lot of our guys just couldn’t get out of their funk.”

The closest match came at number five singles, where Palmer Johnson fell in a super breaker. He rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win the first set, lost the second and then came up short in the breaker.

“He had a really good battle. He got down early in the first set. He’s not used to really being down,” Carrels said. “He’s kind of that backboard and just gets guys frustrated. It was kind of the opposite effect.”

Johnson regrouped to win the opener before splitting sets and eventually falling 10-5 in the super.

“That was a tough one,” Carrels said.

The Cavaliers then had to adjust to a completely different style against Brookings.

Carrels said the key was making the mental adjustments against the Bobcats.

“Some of the guys got down early and had to kind of figure out how to adjust their style of play,” Carrels said of his players. “Once they kind of found their groove then they started rolling.”

He pointed out the play of Sawyer Henrich who is getting his first experience at the varsity level. He recorded a 10-4 win at number six singles.

“On the big points, when he needed those points, that’s when you could see it was almost like another level of focus kind of happen,” Carrels said. “He really buckled down. He took his time. He hit the correct shots. It looked like he was really planning out his points, which I hadn’t seen before so I was super happy to see that.”

The Cavaliers are scheduled to compete in a triangular in Sioux Falls on Thursday with Watertown and Sioux Falls Roosevelt.

Mitchell 9, Aberdeen Roncalli 0

Singles

Macon Larson, M, def. Daniel Gamboa, 6-1, 6-1.

Tyler Loecker, M, def. Cason Hellwig, 6-1, 6-1.

Aiden Patrick, M, def. Mason Carrels, 6-1, 6-2.

Jack Vermuelen, M, def. Palmer Johnson, 5-7, 6-2, (10-5)

Josh Grosdidier, M, def. Landon Zikmund, 6-4, 6-2.

Luke Jerke, M, def. Sawyer Henrich, 6-1, 6-2.

Doubles

Larson-Loecker, M, def. Gamboa-Carrels, 6-1, 6-0.

Patrick-Drake Jerke, M, def. Hellwig-Johnson, 6-2, 6-2.

Vermuelen-Connor Thielen, M, def. Zikmund-Henrich, 6-3, 6-0.

Aberdeen Roncalli 9, Brookings 0

Singles

Daniel Gamboa, AR, def. Ayden Asche, 10-4.

Cason Hellwig, AR, def. Aditya Tummala, 10-7.

Mason Carrels, AR, def. Braylon Peters, 10-4.

Palmer Johnson, AR, def. Josh Park, 10-1.

Landon Zikmund, AR, def. James Park, 10-5.

Sawyer Henrich, AR, def. Carson Kreie, 10-4.

Doubles

Gamboa-Carrels, AR, def. Asche-Tummala, 10-2.

Hellwig-Johnson, AR, def. Peters-Kreie, 10-2.

Zikmund-Henrich, AR, def. Jo. Park-Ja. Park, 10-8.