The Aberdeen Roncalli tennis team got off to a slow start against Watertown and dropped a 7-1 decision in the Cavaliers’ final home match of the season Tuesday at the Northern State Courts. Number one singles did not take place because of an injury.

“Watertown is a good team and so we knew we were going to have our hands full today,” said Roncalli coach JD Carrels. “They came out strong and got on top of us right away.”

Roncalli’s lone victory came at flight four singles where Palmer Johnson rallied from an early deficit to grab a 6-4, 6-4 victory. The sophomore trailed 3-0 and 4-2 in the opening set before he began to wear down his opponent.

Johnson was able to secure the opening set after a long point. He scrambled to keep the ball in play right before his foe made an error to settle the first set. Johnson said winning the first set was big.

“It was very important for me, because I was already down 0-3. That’s kind of long climb, especially on a hot day like today,” Johnson said. “I was really eager to get that set and kind of wear him down a little bit and get some momentum.”

Johnson hurt his foe with precision accuracy on lobs to the back of the court whenever his opponent would come to the net.

“It meant that he wasn’t really going to push the net very often and if he ever did, it was usually kind of a guaranteed point for me,” Johnson said. “So no matter what, it was a good idea for me to do some lobs.”

Soon, the Watertown opponent started hitting out on balls. While that produced some winners, Johnson also got a fair number of those powerful forehands back and like he does against most opponents started frustrating his foe.

“I always try and kind of play in a way that frustrates them a little bit,” Johnson said of his strategy, “kind of throws them off their game and then I just go in and finish it up.”

It’s a proven method that Carrels has seen many times before.

“He did not change his game plan one bit. He stayed steady and kept getting the ball back,” Carrels said. “And sure enough, in the typical Palmer fashion where he starts frustrating opponents it kind of started happening.”

Roncalli also received a strong effort from Mason Carrels at number three singles. After dropping the first set at love, the senior battled back before falling 7-5 in the second.

“He was able to kind of find his stride a little bit,” Coach Carrels said. “He played a tight second set, but couldn’t quite finish it to extend it to a super tiebreaker.”

The Cavaliers will continue their busy week of tennis by heading to a two-day tournament in Pierre on Thursday. Roncalli will face Pierre and Spearfish in duals on Thursday before tournament play takes place on Friday.

Watertown 7, Aberdeen Roncalli 1

Singles

Curtis Sneden, W, def. Cason Hellwig, 6-1, 6-2.

Evan Meester, W, def. Mason Carrels, 6-0, 7-5.

Palmer Johnson, AR, def. Justin Remmers, 6-4, 6-4.

Jaden Lindner, W, def. Landon Zikmund, 6-2, 6-1.

Zander Binde, W, def. Gannon May, 6-0, 6-1.

Doubles

Sneden-Paul Vocu, W, def. Sawyer Henrich-Carrels, 6-0, 6-3.

Meester-Remmers, W, def. Hellwig-Johnson, 6-0, 7-5.

Lindner-Binde, W, def. Zikmund-May, 6-0, 6-3.