ROCHESTER &045; The highlights were at doubles for the Albert Lea High School boys’ tennis team in the Big Nine tournament at Rochester Saturday.

Micah Holt and Corey Dieser reached the third-place match at No. 2 doubles before falling to a Winona team. They rallied to win in three sets in the opening round, then knocked off the No. 4 seed from Rochester John Marshall, again rallying after dropping the first set.

&uot;To get fourth place is a very good finish,&uot; said Tigers coach Sean Gillam. &uot;It’s been a long time since Albert Lea has had a third-place finish in the Big Nine tournament, but it was great to see those guys play as hard as they did and do as well as they did.&uot;

The only other win for the Tigers was by the No. 1 doubles duo of Greg Peterson and Steve Thorn. They swept a Winona pair in the consolation bracket before dropping a three-set decision to an Austin opponent in the consolation finals.

Jay Ackerman and Eric Shahan played No. 3 doubles, winning nine games in a pair of two-set matches.

Adam Luebke battled an Austin player for three sets at No. 1 singles while falling 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. He was swept by a Rochester Century opponent in round two.

The Tigers lost the other singles matches in straight sets. Freshman Andrew Dyrdal won 10 games at No. 4, junior Kurtis Bohrnstedt won nine at No. 3 and sophomore Conner Keyeski six at No. 2.

&uot;We got some good comments from opposing coaches, who were impressed by our progress,&uot; said Gillam.