Mules tennis team falls to Notre Dame in districts

The ride stops here for the Poplar Bluff Mules boys tennis team.

After a dominant quarterfinal win over Festus Monday, the Mules fell short on the road against Notre Dame 5-1 in the second round of the Class 2 District 1 Team Tennis Tournament on Tuesday at NDHS.

The Mules were up in a few matches, but head coach Michael Sowatzke said it wasn’t enough to get them over the hump.

“Going up against No. 1-seeded Notre Dame, I knew it would be tough because they beat us twice this season,” Sowatzke said. “We were winning with the last few matches, and I know the team would've loved to finish strong.

We aimed to end the season with a better record than the regular season. Although I saw some big improvements, we needed to be solid to get past this team.”

Doubles:

Poplar Bluff’s Angelo Sorrentino and Alejandro Rivetti fell short to Charles West and Matthew Austin 8-1, and Tavian Towns and Aiden Castillo lost to Notre Dame’s Thomas Southard and Elijah Youngblood 8-3. Carson Tood and Issac Cato captured the only win for the Mules with an 8-0 victory over Owen Blattel and Blake Schreckenberg.

Singles:

Poplar Bluff’s Sorrentino fell to West 6-1 in both matchups, Todd lost to Blattel 6-3, 6-1 and Castillo fell to Notre Dame’s Schreckenberg 6-0, 6-2.