Netters look good early

• Alex Lasiuk returns a backhander

Raider senior Alex Lasiuk returns a backhander in his match with No. 1 doubles partner Andy Mitchell in their 7-6, 6-4 win over Hill-Murray Monday at the high school courts. Photo by Bob Burrows
• Andy Mitchell gets ready to return a shot

Senior Andy Mitchell gets ready to return a shot while playing alongside classmate Alex Lasiuk in their No. 1 doubles match against Hill-Murray Monday afternoon. Photo by Bob Burrows

Talk about it

The Raider boys’ tennis team is off to a 3-0 start to the season, including a 7-0 blanking of Eau Claire North in its Big Rivers Conference opener last Thursday, April 14.

Hudson opened with a 5-2 nonconference win last Tuesday against Baldwin-Woodville and picked up their latest victory with a 5-2 decision over Hill-Murray this past Monday. Last Saturday’s Eau Claire North Invitational was canceled due to bad weather.

Head coach Dave Dahl said he’s pleased with three straight wins, but is looking for better things in the team’s upcoming matches Thursday, April 21 at home against Menomonie and next Thursday, April 28, at River Falls.

“We’ll certainly take the three wins to start, but there’s plenty to work on if we hope to keep the wins coming,” he said. “It’s one of those tough springs, weather-wise, for all teams to get any consistency going.”

The Raiders top three singles players — Max Hawksford, Jeff Dahl and Seth Blum — are all off to 3-0 starts while No. 4 singles player Jon Paquette is 2-1 with his lone loss coming Monday against Hill-Murray.

In doubles play, Andy Mitchell and Alex Lasiuk are 2-1 at the No. 1 spot while Griffin Robertson and Jake Shreffler are 2-0 at No. 3. Robertson and Dominic Meincke won their only match together Monday against Hill-Murray, while Tanner Owens and Koyla Hawksford have a win at Eau Claire North under their belts at the No. 2 doubles position.

Dahl said the lineup is a mix of experience and rookies, and he’s confident the team will improve as the season progresses.

“Senior captains Andy Mitchell and Alex Lasiuk are looking to regain their doubles form from a year ago,” he said. “Tanner Owens contributed some last season at the varsity level, but Koyla, Griffin, and Jake are all getting their first taste of varsity tennis. Jon Paquette is also new to the varsity lineup and is doing some good things early. Max, Jeff, and Seth have good, solid starts and we’ll be looking to these returning letterwinners to continue to lead the charge.”

Thursday’s match against Menomonie gets underway at 4 p.m. at the high school courts.

Tags: sports, tennis, raiders, prep