SIOUX FALLS – Aberdeen Central could not recover from slow starts Monday during a pair of dual tennis losses. The Golden Eagles fell to Brandon Valley 7-2 before being blanked by O’Gorman 9-0.

The Eagles had several close matches against Brandon Valley, but managed to win just one as Lincoln Wilkinson claimed a second-set tiebreaker to cap his victory at number four singles.

“We had definitely a few that could have gone our way,” said Central coach Trent Kurtz. “We won one tight one. Lincoln came back and won the tiebreaker which is a real good win for him.”

However, the Eagles lost a super-tiebreaker, a tiebreaker and a set 7-5 in some other matches.

“We didn’t do a very good job starting any of our matches. We got down in the first set in about every match. I don’t know if we didn’t get a good warmup or what, but we have to find a way to start better,” Kurtz said. “Even Gabe (Goetz) who won in straight sets got down a break early in the first. We just didn’t get off to a good start and then that carried over in doubles. We didn’t start well. One and two doubles, we were down 5-0 in both of those, before we came back to 5-4 in two doubles and flight one doubles came back to win the set. But we have to play two sets. We only played one set in a lot of matches today.”

Kurtz said the Lynx are typically one of the top squads in the Eastern South Dakota Conference.

“I think they’re consistently one of the better teams in the ESD. The ESD race is really wide open,” Kurtz said. “We could have won a few more matches today, so I think we can play with Brandon.”

Central had a tough time against O’Gorman, in a dual that was played indoors.

“They’re really good. They just beat a really good Washington team over the weekend. Those two with Lincoln and with Stevens are probably the top four in the state,” Kurtz said. “We competed all right in flights, but they’re really good, a lot of fire power at every flight.”

Central has already played nine times season. The Eagles are currently 5-4.

“I would be willing to bet that we’ve played the most matches out of anybody. We’re kind of match tested right now, which is a good thing, but at the same time we need some practice time now,” Kurtz said. “We’ve kind of been shown our strengths, our weaknesses so we know what we have to work on. Now just it’s just putting in the time on the practice court and improve on a few things.”

Brandon Valley 7, Aberdeen Central 2

SINGLES

Gabe Goetz, AC, def. Dawson Johnson, 6-4, 6-2.

Landon Kocer, BV, def. Zach Gonsor, 6-1, 6-3.

Tanner Schultz, BV, def. Ian Ahlberg, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

Lincoln Wilkinson, AC, def. Ayden Murray, 3-6 6-4, (10-4).

Tayven Badger, BV, def. Henry Fouberg, 6-1, 6-0.

Cole Murray, BV, def. Brett Jacobs, 6-4, 6-1.

DOUBLES

Johnson-Kocer, BV, def. Goetz-Gonsor, 6-1, 2-6, (10-5).

Schultz-Murray, BV, def. Ahlberg-Wilkinson, 6-4, 6-2.

Badger-Mark Mutschelknaus, BV, def. Fouberg-Sekou Gogue, 6-3, 7-5.

O’Gorman 9, Aberdeen Central 0

SINGLES

Zach Ridl, OG, def. Gabe Goetz, 10-2.

Alex Lupu, OG, def. Zach Gonsor, 10-3.

Kade Moffitt, OG, def. Ian Ahlberg, 10-2.

Alex Mohama, OG, def. Lincoln Wilkinson, 10-4.

Liam Sarmiento, OG, def. Henry Fouberg, 10-0.

Cooper Johnson, OG, def. Brett Jacobs, 10-2.

DOUBLES

Ridl-Lupu, OG, def. Goetz-Gonsor, 10-3.

Moffitt-Mohama, OG, def. Ahlberg-Wilkinson, 10-2.

Sarmiento-Joey Gellerman, OG, def. Fouberg-Sekou Gogue, 10-2.