ESCANABA — The Escanaba boys are looking to improve as they progress through this tennis season.

Esky dropped its first two matches, falling to defending Upper Peninsula Division 1 champ Negaunee 6-2 on Monday and at West Iron County 5-3 Tuesday.

“Negaunee has a very strong team,” coach Tom Penegor said. “They have three of their four singles guys back. West Iron is also strong. They have everybody back, but it was a good battle up there. The weather conditions were brutal (at Stambaugh). It was about 32 degrees and windy and it started snowing in the end. It was challenging for both teams.”

The current starting lineup for singles consists of junior Connor Howes at No. 1, senior Jackson Cousineau (No. 2) and juniors Reid Brazeau and Loic Fletcher at No. 3 and 4, respectively.

Freshman Logan Stephens, however, played No. 4 singles Tuesday.

“Our singles lineup is not etched in stone yet,” Penegor said. “We’re still having challenge matches because the weather has been so inconsistent. We want to do it right. We want to give everybody a chance to play.”

The Eskymos, who have 20 on their team, will try to bounce back today when they host Ishpeming Westwood in a 1 p.m. match.

“I think they’ll be decent,” Penegor said. “That will be a good test for us.”

The doubles lineup is comprised of juniors Nick Chaillier and Andrew Lord in No. 1, senior David Romps and junior Alex Morgan (No. 2), junior Adam Prey and sophomore Cadin Fulsher (No. 3) and juniors Brandon Gardner/Nick Garcia (No. 4).

“I think our No. 4 doubles can be flexible with other guys who are close,” Penegor said. “We have 15 guys who can get into the 12-man lineup. We have only one sophomore which is a concern. We were hoping for more, although there’s always a possibility we could pick up a few more. Our biggest goals are to have fun and get better. Tennis is a lifetime sport. This is a game you can play for the rest of your life.”

Other hopefuls include senior Ian Burroughs, juniors Alexander Kievit, Ryan Heider and Aiden Ault and freshmen Jacob Prey, Riley Madalinski and Ben Klenow.

“We have a younger team and we’re a little lighter on numbers this year,” Penegor said. “Hopefully, the guys will get stronger as they get more matches in.”

The Eskymos have a new volunteer assistant coach, Alan Adams, who played high school tennis in Grand Rapids and at Grand Valley State University.

“He’s just a fantastic coach,” Penegor said. “He’s originally from Escanaba, but moved downstate with his family as a kid. He has a lot of knowledge about the game and is a certified teaching pro. He puts a lot of time and effort with our kids. I’m learning a lot from him.”

Esky resumes at Gladstone Tuesday.

The remaining schedule:

April 26 — Ishpeming Westwood; April 30 — at Gladstone.

May 1 — at Marquette; May 3 — Munising and Iron Mountain; May 8 — Gladstone; May 9 — at Westwood and Negaunee; May 11 — Kingsford Invitational; May 13 — Marquette; May 14 — Kingsford; May 15 — at Kingsford; May 18 — Negaunee Invitational; May 29 — U.P. Finals at Marquette.