I have to tip my hat to Luverne High School tennis coach Greg Antoine.His four-year tenure at the helm of the program has been a successful one, and Antoine is enjoying the ride.When his Cardinals defeated Worthington in the Section 3A Team Tournament championship match on May 23rd in Redwood Valley, Antoine’s coaching legacy was instantly enhanced.It marked the second time Luverne earned the right to compete at the state tournament as a team (LHS first qualified last season), and it assured Luverne would be represented at the state tournament for the fourth straight year."I’ve had some pretty good luck," Antoine reflected."Dusty (Antoine) and Pat (Bennett) made it to state (as a doubles team) my first two years, and we went as a team and Dusty made it in singles last year. We’ve been fortunate. It’s been kind of a dream for me."Advancing to state as a team was a dream that Antoine didn’t think would become a reality this season.Luverne lost two key seniors in Dusty Antoine and Brandon Deregisch from a team that compiled a 12-6 record in 2005, when the Cards qualified for the state team tournament for the first time in program history.Along with losing some key performers from the 2005 squad, sub-standard weather conditions and a much-improved team from Worthington were obstacles the Cardinals had to overcome in order to repeat as Section 3A Team champions."I knew we had a chance to get back to state, but I was surprised when we won. I thought Worthington was just too strong of a team," Antoine admitted."Another thing working against us was we had very few good practices. It was either too windy or too cold, and I just didn’t think we had enough quality practices to get back to state," he added.Sound strategy and the ability of the players to adopt team-first attitudes helped the Cardinals clear the obstacles they faced on the path to state.The strategy came into play during the section title match, when LHS took on a Worthington team that saddled the Cards with a pair of 4-3 losses in the regular season.Although the prior matches could have fallen in either team’s favor, Antoine decided to enhance Luverne’s chances of winning by adjusting his lineup.The change involved moving Zach Sanderson and Erik Stegemann, who played at No. 3 and No. 4 singles most of the season, to play with Matt Kreuch and Jamie Vickery at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles respectively. This forced Austin Lee (Kreuch’s normal partner at second doubles) and Jeremy Hoff (Vickery’s normal partner at third doubles ) to fill in the third and fourth singles slots.The plan worked to perfection as LHS swept the Trojans in doubles competition and received a win from Derek Boeve at second singles to post a 4-3 victory."We basically did the same thing against Montevideo in the section championship last year, which was to stack up our doubles teams," Antoine said."We put some of our more experienced players together in doubles, and moved some of our more inexperienced players to third and fourth singles," he said."It was a decision we made as a team," Antoine continued. "It gave us our best chance to win. The kids decided if it helps us win as a team, that’s what we’re after."Putting personal aspirations aside and focusing on what’s best for the team speaks volumes about the character embodied in every member of the LHS tennis program.Throw a passion to succeed into the mix, and you have the main reasons why Luverne will be competing at the state tennis tournament in Burnsville June 6."One thing I can say about these kids is they really are competitors. Most of them just don’t want to lose," Antoine said."It may not be pretty, or fundamentally sound, but these kids do what it takes to win."