Woodbury boys tennis: Royals go 4-4 in last eight matches

Playing eight matches in five days, the Woodbury boys tennis team went 4-4 last week, winning a pair of Suburban East Conference matches over White Bear Lake and Cretin-Derham Hall and going 2-2 in its tournament in Eau Clarie, Wis., on Saturday, May 7.

“I’m very happy with how the team played,” Woodbury head coach Derek Otto said. “The doubles in particular looked much improved from the early half of the season. That of course is the goal — we should begin peaking toward our potential as we head into the sectional tournament.”

Last week, Woodbury (8-5) beat White Bear Lake 7-0 on Tuesday, May 3, and Cretin-Derham Hall 4-3 on Friday, May 6. In tournament play, on Saturday, May 8, in Wisconsin, the Royals beat Menominee and Eau Claire North 7-0.

The lone losses for the Royals (8-5) last week came against SEC powers Forest Lake and Mounds View and against non-conference foes Wayzata, 6-1, and Eau Claire Memorial, 5-2.

Wayzata is the No. 1-ranked team in Class AA and Mounds View is ranked seventh in Class AA.

Individually, the Woodbury duo of Jan Groth and Zack Moore remain unbeaten on the season at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.

In conference play, Woodbury next plays host to Stillwater on Thursday, May 12, and travels to Roseville on Monday, May 16. Also, the Royals travel to St. Thomas Academy in a non-conference match on Wednesday, May 11.

“We’re looking forward to finishing strong with our final two conference matches this week as well as a match with Saint Thomas Academy,” Otto said. “This should give us some momentum going into the team tournament that starts in the week ahead.”

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