The Hastings Raiders boys tennis team competed in three matches during a busy stretch from April 8 through April 11, earning one team win along the way while facing strong competition across the week. Hastings opened the stretch with a home matchup against Park of Cottage Grove on April 8, followed by a strong conference style performance against Tartan on April 9, then wrapped up the week against St. Michael Albertville on April 11. Match results from the week showed a mix of close individual battles and dominant doubles play as the Raiders continued to build experience early in the season.
Hastings opened the week on April 8 against Park of Cottage Grove and dropped a 5 to 2 decision despite strong efforts at the top of the lineup. Micah Slapnicher delivered one of the highlights of the match at No. 1 singles, earning a three-set victory over Dylan Conn, 6 to 4, 4 to 6, 10 to 7, in a tightly contested match that went to a super tiebreak. The Raiders also picked up a win at No. 1 doubles, where Zac Belford and Aidan Suarez Garcia teamed up for a 6 to 1, 6 to 4 victory over Liam Shannon. Park secured the remaining flights. At No. 2 singles, Tyler McKeague defeated Gus Whitehill Conover 6 to 0, 7 to 6. Colin Winkler topped Hunter Belford 6 to 1, 6 to 3 at No. 3 singles, and William Taylor defeated Benji Price 6 to 4, 6 to 3 at No. 4 singles. In doubles play, Cameron Picasso and Shane Pnewski beat Tyler Pond and Joe Makowske 6 to 3, 6 to 2 at No. 2 doubles, and Jameson Lane and Collin Price defeated Jens Kaufman and Matthew Maulucci 7 to 5, 6 to 1 at No. 3 doubles. Park finished with the 5 to 2 team win.
Hastings bounced back the next day with a strong performance on April 9 against Tartan, earning a convincing 6 to 1 team victory behind depth across both singles and doubles play. Slapnicher led the way again at No. 1 singles with a 6 to 0, 6 to 3 win over Ethan Gottfried. Conover followed with a dominant 6 to 0, 6 to 0 sweep of Daniel Thao at No. 2 singles. Jens Kaufman added another singles point with a pair of tight 7 to 5 set wins over Alexander Ritland at No. 4 singles. Benji Price competed at No. 3 singles but fell to Wyatt Yeager 6 to 4, 6 to 1 for Hastings’ only loss of the match. The Raiders controlled doubles play throughout the afternoon. Zac Belford and Hunter Belford earned a 6 to 0, 6 to 2 victory at No. 1 doubles. Tyler Pond and Matthew Maulucci followed with a 7 to 6, 6 to 4 win at No. 2 doubles. Jack Daggit and Isaac Hamann completed the sweep at No. 3 doubles with a 6 to 1, 6 to 1 result. Hastings secured the 6 to 1 team win with victories at three singles flights and all three doubles positions.
The Raiders closed the week on April 11 against St. Michael Albertville and faced a strong opponent that swept the match 7 to 0. Slapnicher competed at No. 1 singles but fell 8 to 1 to Brayden Szarzynski. Conover dropped an 8 to 1 decision to Gavin Gerard at No. 2 singles, while Benji Price lost 8 to 2 to Zach Ruhland at No. 3 singles. At No. 4 singles, Jack Daggit faced Wyatt Skogsberg and fell 8 to 0. In doubles play, Hunter Belford and Tyler Pond fell 8 to 0 at No. 1 doubles against Hudson Slettum and Drew O’Neill. Jens Kaufman and Isaac Hamann lost 8 to 4 at No. 2 doubles to Pete Lidberg and Carter Faucher. Matthew Maulucci and Tor Ronning rounded out the lineup at No. 3 doubles and dropped an 8 to 0 decision to Miles Dalton and Isaac Yotter. St. Michael Albertville secured all seven flights in the match to complete the team victory.
Hastings will return to action with several upcoming home matches over the next two weeks. The Raiders will host Two Rivers on April 16 at 4 p.m., then host Mahtomedi on April 21 at 4 p.m., followed by a home match against South St. Paul on April 23 at 3:30 p.m. Hastings will then travel to Simley on April 28 at 4 p.m. before returning home to face Harding on April 29 at 4 p.m. as the team continues its spring schedule.