Traditionally, the Aberdeen Central girls’ team has struggled with Monday duals, but that was definitely not the case on this particular Monday.

The Golden Eagles rolled to an 8-1 tennis victory over St. Thomas More at the Holgate Courts.

“It’s great that we took this one,” said Central coach John Vogel of his team’s home opener, noting that his team has not always been sharp in Monday action.

While the Golden Eagles swept the singles matches, it was dramatic comeback in doubles that might have help to light the spark.

The flight three doubles squad of Mady Holman and Estelle Riggs saved four match points to claim an 8-6 tiebreaker victory.

“At that point, me and Estelle, we couldn’t play it safe,” Holman said. “During a tiebreak, the reason you got there is from not playing safe, so the whole thing you have to do is not play safe. You have to still be aggressive.”

That is easier said than done, considering that one mistake being down 6-2 and the match would be over. Instead, the duo reeled off six straight points to pull off the victory.

“I think me and Estelle just had the will to do it,” Holman said. “We really wanted that win.”

The team had to regain their focus after having a lead and then losing it before things got to the tiebreaker. Holman said is a tough thing to do.

“It’s one of the hardest things about tennis, because you could win the first four, but then you could lose the next like seven, so it’s really difficult,” Holman said. “But you just have to kind of push yourself and realize it’s all up to you. You can’t do anything about what the other people do. You have to do it yourself.”

Vogel said that match likely impacted the singles portion of the dual, which started right after that.

“I think that really helped propel us into singles … because we had the whole team watching there and that’s kind of a fun environment, too,” Vogel said.

The coach said it was also an important win for a team that has come close in the past, but has not been able to win a tight match.

“That team really needed a big win,” Vogel said. “We’ve been telling them they’ve been doing all the right things, but they’ve been coming up on the short end a lot. So they needed that more than any other team here.”

While Central won the dual by seven, there were several close matches in singles and the Golden Eagles won them all. As a result, they will carry some momentum into the rest of the week with matches against Rapid City and Rapid City Stevens on Friday, and Pierre and Aberdeen Roncalli on Saturday.

“I hope it’s a sign of things to come,” Vogel said of the win over STM.

One thing is for sure, the Golden Eagles are happy to be at home for a bit. ” It’s nice being on our home courts,” Holman said. “We don’t’ get to play here a lot, but especially this week, it’s nice that we’re at home and not traveling.”

Aberdeen Central 8, St. Thomas More 1

Singles

Julia Knie, AC, def. Athena Franciliso, 10-1.

Avery Tennant, AC, def. Shriya Gangineni, 10-6.

Reese Comstock, AC, def. Amity Strand, 10-6.

Chloe Ladner, AC, def. Evie Reinicke, 10-7.

Sarah Knie, AC, def. Ella Strand, 10-4.

Ashley Ortega, AC, def. Abigail Oaks, 10-4.

Doubles

J. Knie-Tennant, AC, def. Franciliso-Gangineni, 10-5.

A. Strand-Reinicke, STM, def. Comstock-Ladner, 10-8.

Mady Holman-Estelle Riggs, AC, def. E. Strand-Oaks, 10-9 (8-6).