By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The Niles tennis team found out Tuesday night why Sturgis is one of the better teams in the state as it suffered an 8-0 non-divisonal Big 16 Conference loss.
Althought the Vikings lost, coach Rob Babler wasn't too upset by it and hopes his team can use this as a springboard for the rest of the season.
At No. 1 singles, Sturgis' Adam Carter took the win over Ari Fernandez 46-4, 6-1. At No. 2 singles, Scott Cressman of Sturgis took the 7-5, 6-2 win over Colin Smith. At No. 3 singles, Sturgis' Pat Malloy took the 6-2, 6-2 win over Nate Fink and at No. 4 singles Aaron Miller of Sturgis took the win over Nick Neumann 6-4, 7-5.
At No. 1 doubles, Isaac Miller and Aaron Sable of Sturgis took the 7-5, 6-3 win over Dan Rodts and Jon Smith. At No. 2 doubles Sturgis' Dan Templin and Alex Carter took the first set 6-4 and Niles' Julian Freas and Jeff Pugh took the second set 7-5. In the third set Templin and Carter took the 6-0 win. At No. 3 doubles Skyler Mudd and Levi Grooms suffered the 1-6, 2-6 loss against Will Gearning and Brandon Deroshia of Sturgis. At No. 4 doubles Jon Poole and Mark Neeser took the first set 6-2, but suffered losses in the next two set 4-6 and 1-6 against Dan Zimmerman and Eric Neiser.
The Vikings return to action on April 13 at Lakeshore. Match time is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.