BISMARCK -- Great tennis matches are great tennis matches, even if there has to be a loser.
Dickinson senior Taylor Bruhschwein experienced this type of heartbreak, taking Bismarck High No. 1 singles player Grant Bakke to the limit before being defeated in two straight sets in the first round of the West Region team tournament on Thursday.
Bakke won straight sets 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7) in the deciding match of a dual against Bismarck as the Demons won 3-2 to enter the championship bracket where they lost to Bismarck Century 4-1.
Dickinson bounced back with a solid 4-1 win over Minot Ryan and plays Williston in a state-qualifying match today at 8 a.m.
Mandan plays Bismarck High in the other state qualifier while Century and Minot meet in the region championship.
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"With the 3-2 format, it turns into a chess match and a guessing game," Dickinson co-coach Carter Fong said. "It played out like we thought it would. It came down to the No. 1 singles match."
According to Fong, the match came down to Bakke's ability to score big points when he needed to the most.
"Grant won a couple more big points," Fong said. "It was a contrast in styles. Bakke likes to slug it out from the baseline while Taylor is a pure serve-and-volley player. It's two completely different styles.
"It was a great match. It just didn't go our way."
Luke Van Ells and Kyle Rummel each won their singles match against Bismarck, though the Midgets' doubles teams both lost.
"Bismarck took care of both doubles matches right away and we took care of the other two singles matches right away," Fong said. "For 45 minutes, there was only one match. Everyone was surrounding the court."
Bruhschwein, Van Ells and Rummel each took a singles win against Minot Ryan while Shawn Senescall and Tyler Tucker combined for a doubles win.
