Miners lose to Northview

Defending boys tennis sectional champion Northview blanked host Linton-Stockton 5-0 Wednesday in a rematch of last year's title contest.

The most competitive match was at No. 1 doubles, where the Linton-Stockton duo of Chase Rhoten and Merrick McBride lost 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

All of the other individual contests were decided in straight sets.

"We knew coming in they were a pretty good team," said Linton-Stockton coach Brad McKinney, whose Miners slipped to 1-4. "They are a good squad, but 5-0 better than us, I am not so sure.

"We just had too many unforced errors. We also are playing tentatively, which can lead to the errors, but that is a part of our youth. I told the boys that we will probably have to go through this team to win a sectional. We can turn it around, but it shows us how hard we have to work."

The Miners will play at Edgewood Thursday before competing at the Princeton Invitational Saturday.

"We need to clean up our game," said McKinney. "We need to eliminate our unforced errors and not be tentative on the court.

"There is still a lot of tennis to be played."

The Miners will play at Edgewood Thursday.

At Linton

Northview 5, Linton-Stockton 0

Singles: Austin Akers (N) d. Seth Herndon 6-2, 6-2; Clint Reynolds (N) Kris Shipman 6-1, 6-2; Carson Kliebler (N) d. Taylor Sloan 6-0, 6-2.

Doubles: Matt Nodley/Caleb Mershon (N) d. Chase Rhoten/Merrick McBride 7-6(4), 6-3; Joey Thomas/Caleb Andrew (N) d. Kyle Cooper/Luke Knight 6-2, 6-0.

Junior Varsity

Northview 2, Linton-Stockton 0

JV Results

Singles: Max Short (N) d. Garrett Hollingsworth 6-2.

Doubles: Trent Simes/Sam Miller (N) d. Garrett Hollingsworth/Ben Brown 6-1.