GLADSTONE — The Gladstone Braves were looking to build momentum and may have done that in a 6-2 tennis victory over the Ishpeming Hematites here Monday.

“We absolutely wanted to gain some momentum before facing Negaunee,” Braves’ coach Ryan Barron said. “The boys have been putting time in during the weekends. We make our mistakes, but we just tell the guys to move on to the next one. I’m absolutely happy with the way we performed today.”

This started a challenging week for the Braves, who travelled to perennial power Negaunee Tuesday and visit Escanaba today at 4.

Gladstone seniors Tyler Soderman and Teagan Reynolds defeated Dax Kakkuri and Darius Weber 6-1, 6-0 in No. 1 doubles.

“Our serves were really working today,” Reynolds said. “We were just working the box and finding the spots. We dropped the first game, then picked it up from there. We couldn’t play Thursday and Friday because of the weather. It took a little while for us to get back into our rhythm.”

Seniors Nick Thill and Matthew Hagebusch then provided the Braves with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Ethan DeMario and Davis Hyatt at No. 2 doubles on this cloudy and mild afternoon.

“It went well,” Thill said. “We were very consistent. We needed all the momentum we could get before playing Negaunee. Not having much wind made it easier to place the ball. Even when it’s windy, I like to lob the ball up.”

All the flights except No. 3 doubles were decided in two sets.

In that match, Ishpeming’s Adam Aporte and Marcus Annala rallied past Eric Anderson-Alex Beauchamp 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

“Overall, we’re just glad to play some tennis after the weather we had,” Ishpeming coach Ben Zindler said. “We didn’t get on the court until the first couple weeks of April. We had a couple shovel practices. We’re fairly young. It’s just about getting a racket into their hands.”

In singles play, Gladstone’s James Blair defeated Kale Bancroft 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1 and Brent Veeser added a 6-3, 6-0 triumph over Ishpeming’s Grady Gauthier in No. 2.

The Hematites, who faced Iron Mountain at Westwood Tuesday, host Munising today.

Singles

No. 1 — Blair, G, def. Bancroft, 6-2, 6-2; No. 2 — Veeser, G, def. Gauthier, 6-3, 6-0; No. 3 — Ketcham, G, def. Kroch, 6-2, 6-1; No. 4 — Carlson, I, def. Trottier, 6-2, 6-3.

Doubles

No. 1 — Soderman-Reynolds, G, def. Kakkuri-Weber, 6-1, 6-0; No. 2 — Hagebusch-Thill, G, def. DeMario-Hyatt, 6-0, 6-1; No. 3 — Aporte-Annala, I, def. Anderson-Beauchamp, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; No. 4 — Stooch-Stahlman, G, def. Vollmer-Wittig, 6-2, 6-2.