PIERRE – After a couple of rough outings to start the week, the Aberdeen Central tennis squad worked its way back into the win column on Thursday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles came up big in some close matches and claimed an 8-1 dual victory over Pierre.

“We kind of needed a win. We’ve been beat up on a little bit here. Just confidence-wise, it was good,” said Central coach Trent Kurtz. “The guys have been working hard, so it was good to get a little payoff there.”

The Eagles won three matches by the scores of 10-8, two coming in singles and another in doubles.

Sekou Gogue won the final three games to close out his match at flight three singles, and Preston Kreber also grabbed a 10-8 win at flight six. Kreber then teamed with Sam Casper for the first time this season and the duo was able to pull off a tight win at flight three doubles.

“We’re just trying something new, trying to get a little spark at three doubles. They both are capable of being really good volleyers,” Kurtz said. “I think we’re really going to work on making them a team that really comes in a lot. You don’t see a lot of that at three doubles, so hopefully we can catch teams by surprise and that’s kind of their strength. They’re athletic; they’re quick. We’re just going to try to rush the net and make the other team make mistakes.”

Kurtz was pleased with the way his team finished off matches against the Governors. He said it was good for his squad to be in some contests that featured key points that determined the outcome.

“We need to play those big pressure points and just get used to them for later in the year,” Kurtz said.

Central heads to Huron on Saturday to face Mitchell and Huron.

While the Eagles have played nine duals so far this season, they have yet to have an outdoor practice and that is something that would be valuable, according to Kurtz.

“We really need some outdoor practice time where we can work on specific things with specific kids,” he said.

Aberdeen Central 8, Pierre 1

Singles

Mitchell Hofer, AC, def. Devin Dodson, 10-2.

AJ Prehn, AC, def. Lucas Hight, 10-1.

Sekou Gogue, AC, def. Jacob Leiferman 10-6.

Riley Southern, P, def. Jack Riggs, 10-9 (8-6).

Preston Kreber, AC, def. Jake Mikkonen, 10-8.

Hunter Miller, AC, def. Weston Northrup, 10-4.

Doubles

Hofer-Prehn, AC, Dodson-Hight, 10-0.

Gogue-Riggs, AC, def. Leiferman-Carter Gordon, 10-2.

Kreber-Sam Casper, AC, def. Jake Mikkonen-Joe Mikkonen, 10-8.