MARQUETTE — Marquette Senior High School got off to a successful start to its boys tennis season with a 7-1 victory over Ishpeming at the MSHS courts on Wednesday.

Only a marathon victory posted by Ishpeming’s Caden Luoma at No. 2 singles kept the Sentinels from sweeping their opener.

Luoma prevailed over Marquette’s Elan Chu 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 14-12, the third set a pro-style tiebreaker.

“Given the spring we’ve had and the lack of court time both of our teams have had, there was some pretty good tennis out there,” Marquette head coach Karl Thomsen said about his varsity and JV teams. “Our doubles teams did a good job of keeping their feet moving and using the wind to their advantage.

“I was really happy with the compete level of Connor Dunn and Winston Leonard at No. 3 doubles. Just like practice, they bring effort and heart every time on the courts.”

Dunn and Leonard prevailed over the Hematites’ Ethan DuMarois and Jimmy DeCase 6-0, 6-0.

“We also had a handful of players make their varsity debut and they all had strong performances,” Thomsen said.

“On the singles side, Kane Bush and Dominic Camilli played very consistent tennis for their first career wins. The No. 4 doubles team of Larson Marquardt and Wyatt Ansell played solid team tennis for their first varsity win.”

Camilli won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 singles over Ishpeming’s Kole Bancroft, while Bush triumphed over the Hematites’ Joe Giroux 6-0, 6-2.

Marquardt and Ansell won at No. 4 doubles with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Ishpeming’s Darius Willis and Aaron Hudson.

The Sentinels’ wins were all in two sets, the toughest coming at No. 1 singles when Caden Laurn downed the Hematites’ Mason Bancroft 6-4, 6-3.

Next up for the Sentinels is their JV team facing off at Gwinn’s varsity at 4 p.m. Tuesday, while the following day, the Marquette varsity goes to Westwood at 3:30 p.m.

Ishpeming is back in action at 4 p.m. Tuesday with a match at Negaunee, while the Hematites have a road match at Gwinn at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Story contents based on email received from MSHS head coach Karl Thomsen. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.