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One Set Away From State

By Tom Schardin, 06/03/17, 2:15PM CDT

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Max Hall and Jaydon Olson were one set away from qualifying for the Class AA state doubles tournament.

The sophomores on the Prior Lake boys tennis team lost a true-second match in three sets May 30 in Section 2AA play at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter to end up third.

Hall and Olson won the first set 7-5 over Minnetonka's Carter Smiley and Tanner Smiley, but then dropped the next two (7-5, 6-3).

Hall and Olson lost in the semifinals to another Minnetonka team, falling 6-2, 6-3 to Frank Stich and Jacob Stork. Those two beat their teammates in the final, giving Hall and Olson a true-second match.

In south sub-section doubles play May 27, Hall and Olson went to 2-0 to qualify for the semifinals. They won 6-1, 6-1 over New Ulm's Andrew Goodall and Craig Schapekahm in their first match and won in straight sets in the second round over Ethan Swensen and Brandon Swenson of Mankato West (6-3, 6-0).

Meanwhile, junior Aditya Acharya also went 2-0 in the sub-sections for the Lakers in singles play. He earned a 6-3, 7-5 win over Zach Riehl of Mankato East in the first round and won 6-2, 6-2 over Joel Koelpin of New Ulm in the next round.

In the semifinals, Acharya fell 6-0, 6-2 to Ben Weaton of Minnetonka and then lost the third-place match to Hutchinson's Joey Mueller (6-2, 7-5).

Sophomore Michael Johnson also completed in singles for the Lakers, going 1-1 in the sub-sections. He opened with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Josh Kassendorf of New Prague, before falling 7-6, 6-1 to Mark Williams of Mankato East in the next round.

In doubles, senior Michael Heile and ninth-grader Steven Blauert also went 1-1 in the sub-sections. They beat Tyler Guggisberg and Kelby Stocker of New Ulm in the first round (6-0, 6-3) and then lost to Will Mueller and Ford Johnson of Mankato West in the next round (6-3, 6-0).