DEXTER -- The Poplar Bluff Mules pulled out a pair of come-from-behind wins Thursday to beat Dexter 6-3 in both teams' season opener at the Dexter tennis courts.
Ben Stewart and Zach Batton held off Eric Hahn and Nate Gargas in a tiebreaker 9-8 (3) in No. 1 doubles, and Stewart rallied from a two-game deficit to beat Hahn 8-5 in No. 1 singles.
"Afraid we might lose two of three doubles, but No. 1 rallied," Poplar Bluff coach Charlie Harper said. "Stewart/Batton were up two games early. We were up 7-6 and Dexter broke serve and held to go up 8-7. Batton held serve to force a tiebreaker, and we played it well."
Dexter took a 1-0 lead in the tiebreaker before the Mules scored four-straight points to take control.
In No. 1 singles, Hahn built a 5-3 lead before Stewart finished strong, winning the final five games while breaking Hahn's serve three times.
"Down 3-5, (Stewart) won three in a row. Up 6-5, we knew we had it," Harper said.
The Mules carried a 4-2 lead into the final matches -- Nos. 1, 2 and 4 singles.
Stewart's win clinched the victory.
Gargas won the No. 2 singles match 8-4 over Brett Keele, and Batton defeated Matt Chesser 8-6 in No. 4 singles.
Logan Wyman won Dexter's only other singles match, beating No. 3 Adeesh Mishra 8-2.
"Today, for a lot of our guys, it was play a game. See what it's like because they've never done it before," Dexter coach Eric Boles said of his young team. "My veterans, Logan and Nate, really came through strong, and Eric, although he lost, it was back-and-forth, back-and-forth. Just little things for him. Nothing major."
Jackson Winters beat Blake Bolin 8-4 in No. 5 singles and Ethan Johnson beat Travis Propst 8-1 in No. 6 singles.
"After struggling at doubles, Winters and Johnson played very well in their first varsity singles matches," Harper said. "Very proud of them giving us the cushion we needed going into the final three singles matches."
Winters' and Johnson's victories gave the Mules the 4-2 lead.
Chesser and Bolin beat Winters and Johnson 8-6 in No. 3 doubles. Keele and Mishra defeated Wyman and Propst 8-2 in No. 2 doubles.
Boles felt positive about his team despite the loss.
"It's not a bad loss. It's not a loss we gave away," Boles said. "They were better than us today, and we'll get better. We've got some things to work on, but we've got a lot of good things going on, too. I'm optimistic going forward."