FROM COACH DAVE ZALEWSKI

The Red Robins rebounded nicely after their loss to Rhinelander Tuesday with a dominating performance Thursday against the Lakeland Lumberjacks.  All the boys came out firing against the young Lakeland team, with Antigo cruising to straight set victories in every flight.

With the sun finally breaking through but the wind making playing conditions less then optimal, the Antigo Boys showed solid improvement.  “I was especially pleased with the play of our doubles teams. They all played consistently and with little time to help them understand the court positioning doubles requires, the boys are doing a good job of working together. “

The most interesting match of the day came at one singles with Garrett Husnick facing off against Jesus Hoyes, a foreign exchange student from Mexico. Hoyes started out with a lot of firepower, but Husnick defused it with just keeping the ball in play. After the first set, Lakeland decided to try and beat Antigo at his own game, changing to a defensive strategy. But Husnick has perfected the pusher strategy, and Hoyes could not beat him at his own game. The rallies often extended past twenty hits with Antigo coming out on the top of most of them.  The lengthy match finished just before the sun set.

“Lakeland is very young with seven of their ten varsity players being freshmen. Last season they only fielded three players so their future looks bright. The good news is that Antigo has some promising young players as well.”

Next up for the Red Robins is two away meets. Monday they play at Pacelli and Tuesday at Medford.