By John RittenhouseThe Luverne girls’ tennis team split a pair of matches since last Thursday.Luverne coasted to a seven-point home win over Brandon Valley Thursday, but the Cardinals slipped to 0-2 in Southwest Conference play when they lost by one point in Marshall Monday.The 4-3 Cards play in Worthington Monday before hosting Martin County West Tuesday.Marshall 4, Luverne 3A slow start by Luverne led to a one-point loss to the Tigers during Monday’s league match in Marshall.LHS fell behind early in most of the matches and had to rally to earn their three points."We were sluggish," said Cardinal coach Greg Antoine. "We got off the bus and fell behind early in every match, and it’s tough to come all the way back like that."Luverne wins came from Samantha Gacke and Nikki Van Dyk, and the No. 1 doubles team of Kaitlyn Deragisch and Andraya Gacke.Samantha Gacke topped Kayla Pruitt 2-0 in a tightly contested No. 1 singles battle. Gacke won 7-6 (7-5 in the tiebreaker) and 7-6 (8-6 in the tie breaker). Van Dyk prevailed in a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 match against Megan Gannott at No. 4 singles. Deragisch and Andraya Gacke posted 7-6 (7-2 in the tiebreaker) and 6-2 wins over Amy Daniels and Nicole St. Aubin."Sam (Gacke) and Kayla (Pruitt) had a great match," Antoine said. "Sam is really on a roll. She has won her last six matches. Nikki (Van Dyk) played really well, too. She got really hot and had to play through some discomfort in the second set, but she came back to win the third set. Kaitlyn (Deragisch) and Andraya (Gacke) played with the spark and enthusiasm I’ve been looking for. They were fun to watch."Marshall’s Gracie Henderson topped Brittany Boeve by a pair of 6-4 scores at No. 2 singles. Rachell Kunde bested Alyssa Klein by 6-2 and 6-1 tallies at No. 3.Marshall’s Amanda Herrmann and Missi St. Aubin notched a pair of 6-3 wins over Jessica Klein and Heidi Sandbulte at No. 2 doubles. Courtney St. Aubin and Kiki Lecy saddled Lindsey Severtson and Robin Madtson with a pair of 6-2 losses at No. 3.Luverne 7, BV 0The Cardinals recorded their second consecutive victory when they disposed of the Lynx by seven points in Luverne Thursday.Although Luverne won five of the seven matches in straight sets, coach Antoine said the final score of the match was deceiving."The match was a lot closer than came out in the final score," he said. "We were working on being more aggressive, and I think our singles players were. Being more aggressive means getting to the net and forcing them to make great shots to get a point. When you do that, good things usually happen."Attacking the net paid off for singles players Samantha Gacke, Alyssa Klein, Van Dyk and Deragisch, who won their matches in straight sets. Gacke secured 6-3 and 6-4 wins over Arin Knudtson at No. 1, Klein saddled Jessica Ramse with a pair of 6-2 setbacks at No. 2, Van Dyk bested Ally Vander Weise by 6-4 and 6-0 scores at No. 3, and Deragisch notched a pair of 6-0 wins against Jillian Bright at No. 4.Luverne’s Severtson and Christina Lovett won in straight sets (6-1 and 6-2) over Katie Thompson and Jenna Weir at No. 3 doubles.Andraya Gacke and Sandbulte prevailed in a 6-3, 6-7 (3-7 in the tiebreaker), 6-2 match against Katie Bjorun and Megan Maassen at No. 1 doubles. Jessica Klein and Boeve upended Hope Hamer and Ashley Hamer at No. 2 in a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 match.