The Pirates had their work cut out for them in the season opener Wednesday in Roseau as they faced the Section 8A favorite Rams. Pirate head coach Mike Geffre noted that it was Roseau's fourth or fifth match of the season and it was his squad's first. The Rams looked like they were in midseason form as they handed the Pirates a 6-1 loss.
"You could tell it was our first," said Geffre. "We played like it was our first. Hopefully in the next couple days we'll pick it up."
The lone Crookston win came at second doubles with Lilli Denison and Bailey Morris defeating Jessica Acker and Tara Anderson 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
The Pirates were competitive at first doubles where Rachel Lariviere and Jaclyn Proulx lost 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 to Ingrid Mlodzik and Megan Foley. Kylie Simmons at third singles also had a tight match but fell 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) to Bethany Tangen.
"Roseau is favored to win the section," noted coach Geffre. "We are looking for progression to be ready for tournament time and we've done that the last few years. Our goal is to progress as the season goes on."
Geffre went on to say that the lineup he used in the season opener is not fixed.
"We'll be doing a lot of rotating at singles," he said. "We'll kind of see where our strengths are and where we match up with teams. We have a lot of time left to move some kids around the lineup."
Geffre and his squad have a busy start to the season with Wednesday match in Roseau, today's invitational in Thief River Falls and Saturday's eight-team invitational in Crookston.
"The kids are out playing right now," he said from his phone in Thief River Falls this morning. "[Saturday] will be a good competition day. It will give us a chance to use kids in different spots."
In junior varsity action, Roseau topped Crookston 7-4.
