Sep. 5—GRAND FORKS — Julian Mallory knew it came down to his match.
The boys tennis dual between Grand Forks Red River and Grand Forks Central — a rematch of last year’s state championship — was tied 4-4. No. 2 singles was the last match on the court.
“My mom was like, ‘No pressure,'” Mallory said.
The Red River junior didn’t seem to feel any.
Facing two match points in the second set, Mallory came up with back-to-back big forehands to save them. He won the last three games of the set to force a decisive 10-point tiebreaker.
Then, Mallory hammered six service winners in the tiebreak to beat Central’s Jason Ling 4-6, 7-5, 10-8 and give the Roughriders a 5-4 victory in the rivalry dual.
“I was just like, ‘Keep swinging, don’t tighten up,'” Mallory said.
Mallory’s victory capped a close dual between two of the top teams in the state.
Five of the nine matches split sets. They were decided by 10-point tiebreakers instead of a third set — a new statewide rule this season.
Red River won three of the super tiebreakers. Central won two.
“The margin for error is thin,” Red River coach Josh Lunak said. “You can’t have a bad set. You have to stay focused for two sets, because once you get to a super tiebreaker, it’s really a flip of a coin. It’s a battle. I think staying in present thought and staying focused throughout the match is the key.”
Red River also received singles wins from Rylan Bydal, Taye David and Max Mecham at Nos. 4-5-6 singles, while the No. 3 doubles team of David and Kevin Martinez prevailed in a super tiebreaker.
Central earned victories from defending state champion Cole Wilber at No. 1 singles and Rylan Spicer at No. 3 singles. Wilber and Spicer won at No. 1 doubles, while Ling and Gunner Spicer won at No. 2 doubles.
Despite the loss, it was a strong bounce-back for the Knights after losing 8-1 to East Region favorite West Fargo Sheyenne on Thursday.
“We have Cole and we expect Cole to play well, but we had a lot of other guys step up today,” Central coach Max Weisser said. “There were a lot of tight matches and a lot of positives to take away from today. It’s the happiest I’ve ever been losing a match 5-4.”
It was another tight dual between the Roughriders and Knights.
Last season, Red River won in the regular season and the East Region final, but the Knights won the state championship.
“That’s what you expect with these rivalry matches,” Lunak said. “I expected 5-4 and that’s what we got. We were lucky today to come out on top.”
That was thanks to some timely shots by Mallory under pressure.
“He saved two match points, came back, and really took the momentum there,” Lunak said. “That was really great to see. I think his serve really picked up in the second set and super tiebreaker. His serve was huge for him.”
Singles
1. Cole Wilber, GFC, over Aodh Murphy 6-1, 6-3; 2. Julian Mallory, RR, over Jason Ling 4-6, 7-5, 10-8; 3. Rylan Spicer, GFC, over Asher Green 1-6, 6-2, 13-11; 4. Rylan Bydal, RR, over Logan Nielson 6-1, 6-2; 5. Taye David, RR, over Gunner Spicer 3-6, 6-1, 10-6; Max Mecham, RR, over Isaiah Cormier 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
1. Wilber-R. Spicer, GFC, over Murphy-Mallory 3-6, 6-2, 10-5; 2. Ling-G. Spicer, GFC, over Green-Bydal 6-4, 7-5; 3. David-Kevin Martinez, RR, over Brady Fee-Kasen Panzer 6-1, 3-6, 10-5
