WATERTOWN – Two players who have not played varsity doubles together teamed up for Aberdeen Central’s lone victory on Thursday.

Mika Dannon and Gannon Pederson pulled out a tight win at second flight doubles against Watertown. The Golden Eagles fell to the host squad 8-1 and were also blanked by Sioux Falls Lincoln 9-0.

“A really good win for two doubles,” said Central coach Trent Kurtz. “Mika and Gannon’s first time, first match playing with each other.”

The two led early, fell behind, then rallied to pull out a 7-3 tiebreaker victory.

“They played really well down the stretch,” Kurtz said. “They got off to a really good start, and kind of had a lead early in the match.”

The Central duo led 4-3, lost four straight games, and then regrouped for the win.

“They were able to keep their head in it, stay positive and just keep fighting,” Kurtz said.

He noted that the Dannen and Pederson have styles that work well in doubles.

“Their games both kind of fit doubles right now,” Kurtz said. “Gannon just has kind of a natural instinct to play doubles. Mika has a some pace; he’s got a big game.”

Central had several other close calls against Watertown, but found wins hard to come by overall on the day.

“Sioux Falls Lincoln is really good, however many state titles they’ve won in a row, and they’ve got pretty much everybody back,” Kurtz said. “They’re as good of a team as I’ve seen. They’re loaded.”

Kurtz noted that Watertown will be among the top teams in the Eastern South Dakota Conference this spring.

“Watertown, they’ve got seniors at 1, 2 and 3, that’s kind of the strength of their team,” Kurtz said. “They’ve got some experience, guys that have played varsity in the past.”

The Golden Eagles, who do not have a senior on the squad, are still learning to adjust to their new varsity positions.

“The toughest thing for young athletes to do is handle adversity. So we’ve got a lot of guys new to varsity,” Kurtz said. “We’re really struggling with when things go bad right now we have to find a way to stay positive. We let one bad game or two bad games turn into four or five bad games. It’s just really hurting us right now. We’ve got to fix that. I think that’ll just come with more match experience.”

Central, 2-6 on the young season, hosts Brandon Valley and O’Gorman on Monday in the home opener for the Golden Eagles.

“That will be good to have a home match,” Kurtz said, “we don’t have many of those this year.”

Watertown 8, Aberdeen Central 1

Singles

Curtis Sneden, W, def. AJ Prehn, 10-2.

Evan Meester, W, def. Mason Ligon, 10-2.

Justin Remmers, W, def. Dawson Pederson, 10-4.

Joey Meester, W, def. Aric Tennant, 10-8.

Skyler Stanton, W, def. Mika Dannen, 10-9 (7-1).

Matthew Bertsch, W, def. Gannon Pederson, 10-7.

Doubles

Sneden-E. Meester, W, def. Prehn-Ligon, 10-4.

Dannon-G. Pederson, AC, def. Remmers-Stanton, 10-9 (7-3).

J. Meester-Sam Karst, W, def. Tennant-D. Pederson, 10-2.

Sioux Falls Lincoln 9, Aberdeen Central 0

Singles

Rocky McKenzie, SFL, def. AJ Prehn, 5-1, 5-0.

Drew Gohl, SFL, def. Mason Ligon, 5-0, 5-0.

River McKenzie, SFL, def. Dawson Pederson, 5-0, 5-0.

Chris Tao, SFL, def. Aric Tennant, 5-1, 5-1.

Jacob Husser, SFL, def. Mika Dannen, 5-0, 5-0.

Connor Husser, SFL, def. Gannon Pederson, 5-0, 5-0.

Doubles

Rocky McKenize-Gohl, SFL, def. Prehn-Ligon, 5-0, 5-2.

River McKenzie-Tao, SFL, def. Dannen-G. Pederson, 5-1, 5-1.

J. Husser-C. Husser, SFL, def. Tennant-D. Pederson, 5-0, 5-0.