ISHPEMING — The Iron Mountain boys varsity tennis team had two matches on its plate Tuesday at Westwood High School, playing a doubleheader against the host Patriots and the Ishpeming Hematites.

The Mountaineers battled to a 4-4 draw against Ishpeming and dropped a 5-3 decision to Westwood.

“Today was a good test against two teams we will be seeing again later this season,” IM coach Marcus Celello said. “Despite the outcome of our two matches, today was a valuable experience for our team.”

Against the Hematites, the Mountaineers swept the singles matches for their four points. None of the matches were competitive with No. 1 singles David Juul and No. 2 singles Brenden LaPoint winning all 12 of their games. No. 3 singles Kaden Sheldon lost only one game and No. 4 singles Reece Kangas captured 12 of the 14 games in his match.

Against the Patriots, the Mountaineers won the top three singles flights. LaPoint rolled to a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 2 singles to lead the way. Sheldon captured his No. 3 singles match 6-2, 7-6 (4) and Juul persevered for a 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 triumph in the No. 1 singles flight.

Celello said LaPoint was impressive in his return from injury.

“He controlled the pace of play, which allowed him to effectively play his style of tennis,” the coach said. “We are still easing him into the lineup, but once he is able to be a regular in our lineup, it will make the rest of our team better.”

Celello stated that his doubles lineup is a work in progress as he searches for the best combination of eight players.

“As we begin to have more consistency in our lineup, I believe we will begin seeing positive results from that part of our team,” Celello said.