Matt Miller is very familiar with his new No. 1 doubles partner at Niles High School.

Matt is paired up with his twin brother Brad and the two are thriving at the start of the season. The talented senior duo improved their record to 8-0 after beating Dowagiac’s David Brogen and Mitch Warsko, 6-0, 6-0. The Vikings won the match, 6-1. Only seven flights were played because Niles was without two players.

Playing together has always been a goal for the Miller twins, who have not lost a set this season.

“We wanted to play together last year and we asked if we could this year and we got to finally,” said Brad Miller, who just played singles before this year.

Niles boys tennis coach Jill Weber was asked why she decided to put the twins together this year at doubles.

“They’ve been really wanting to as brothers to play together,” said Weber. “Matt played one doubles with another partner (Alec Brown) last year and they were first team All-State. They were a really good team. It was time for (the Miller twins) to be able to play together as brothers.”

Is Weber surprised by the Miller’s success?

“No, not at all,” she said. “The boys played doubles over the summer on a USTA team and that was a huge thing for them to help them come together.”

Brad Miller also points to the summer as being the key to helping him and his brother get off to a good start.

“We put in some hard work during the offseason,” Brad Miller said. “We’re also brothers and we’ve played a lot at home when we’re not with the Niles team.”

Matt Miller admits that life hasn’t been perfect with his brother as a doubles team.

“When we first started playing together it was kind of rough,” Matt Miller said. “There were arguments in car rides home, but we’ve been able to get it together and get that kind of stuff out of the way before the start of the season.”

The two want to reach certain goals before the tennis season concludes.

“We really want to beat St. Joseph because I feel they’re the best team on our schedule,” Matt Miller said. “They’re good every year. We also want to help our team get better and place well at regionals.”

The meeting against Dowagiac was the second match on Monday for Niles. Mattawan beat the Vikings, 6-2, in the morning.

“It was exciting to get a win right off the bat in our first home match,” Weber said. “Our No. 4 singles player (Derrick Dye) played his little heart out and lost in a tiebreak, but he still played very well. Our No. 2 doubles (Nick Borkowski and Derek Brown) will be rocking this year.”

The match against Niles was the first of the season for Dowagiac.

“Not too bad,” said Dowagiac coach Sonny Swartz about his team’s play. “We’re young. We graduated four of our singles players from last year. Our kids gave 100-percent effort. That’s all you can ask for.”

The Chieftain’s lone win came at No. 4 singles where Vaughn Herter outlasted Dye, 6-3, 4-6, (10-6).

(For a complete box score, go to www.leaderpub.com)

“That’s not bad because he hasn’t practiced there all year,” Swartz said. “He thought he was going to play No. 2 doubles, but the chips fell the way they did. He played No. 4 singles and played outstanding.”

 

Dowagiac…1

Niles…6

Singles

1. Michael Geiger (N) d. Jordan Hagemann, 6-0, 6-1; 2. Rob Lundberg (N) d. Zach Davis, 6-1, 6-1; 3. Micah Weigel (N) d. Ethan Wagner, 6-2, 6-1; 4. Vaughn Herter (D) d. Derrick Dye, 6-3, 4-6, (10-6)

 

Doubles

1. Brad Miller-Matt Miller (N) d. David Brogen-Mitch Warsko, 6-0, 6-0; 2. Nick Borkowski-Derek Brown (N) d. Tony Kidman-Jennings Brosnan, 6-0, 6-0; 3. Matt Lee-Jake Ruelle (N) d. Steven Kruger-Ben Herter, 6-0, 6-0