So far, Chad Anderson's West Fargo Packer tennis team is experiencing a season of firsts.

The Packer boys' squad topped Wahpeton last week by a count of 7-2, following up a win over Valley City the week before. It was the first time an Anderson-coached team tallied seven points in a dual, and the first time the Packers have won back-to-back duals in more than a decade.

The hits kept coming on Thursday, as West Fargo outlasted Fargo South 6-3 in their afternoon dual at Tintes Park. That made it three straight for the Pack, who find themselves in the thick of things at the midway point of the season with a dual record of 3-1. And, their opening day loss to Fargo Shanley, who is now 4-0, doesn't look so bad, especially since they lost the dual by one match.

";I they're finding out that they can win, instead of me just always telling them that I know they can win,"; Anderson said. ";It really is about confidence. Once you get that first win, it just kind of builds.";

The difference, Anderson said, comes in close matches. Thursday, West Fargo pulled out some huge wins in tight matches, especially on the singles side. Brian Schiller took a three-set win over South's Eric Moe, with a 10-8 win in the tiebreak. Brian Olson of the Packers also went to a tiebreak, winning his match over Luke Brodeur. And for good measure, No. 6 singles player Shawn Sinner took a tiebreaker over South's Steve Moser.

";Shawn was a guy we just kind of put in there to try out at No. 6 singles, and he's undefeated right now, so we're happy with the way he's playing,"; Anderson said. ";Right now, I have six guys that are really on top of things. They're poised and they're playing very good tennis.";

West Fargo has been very strong on the doubles court, as evidenced by Thursday's performance against South. The top doubles tandem of Schiller and Dylan Nitzkorski played a strong frst set to jump on Parker Lawley and Nick Mattthees of the Bruins, getting the first set 6-0. The Packer duo held off a charge by the Bruins in the final set to take the match with a 7-6 (6) win in the tiebreak.

Not to be outdone, Olson and Brandon Beyer took out Ryan McGuigan and Eric Salzwedel with a dominating performance in their first set and in the tiebreak, winning their match 6-3, 3-6, 10-3 in the break.

Another first will happen for the Packers on Thursday, when they host Grand Forks Red River. Instead of taking on the Roughriders at Tintes Park, the Pack's only tennis home for as long as the program has existed, they'll play just southeast of the high school on the new Packer courts, part of the high school athletic complex, which is near the completion of its construction phase. The courts will also be a part of this weekend's West Fargo/Fargo Invitational, a huge tournament that Anderson helps organize each year.

";It just keeps getting bigger every year, which is great,"; Anderson said. ";We'll have over 300 matches and use almost every site we can in Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead, and that makes it the biggest tennis tournament any team around here can participate in. Plus, it's a great chance for us to see some of the teams from the West Region, which is something we never used to get to do. So that's only going to make us better come tournament time.";

Anderson said many teams will use Friday, an off day before the official start of the West Fargo Invite, to hold practice duals with West Region teams. The Packers will play a triangular with Bismarck and St. Mary's on Friday at the high school, their only chance to see the Demons or Saints this season, as Anderson said.

As for the Eastern Dakota Conference, the Pack jump right back into action on Tuesday, when they travel to Jamestown. The East Region meet is right around the corner, with action on the regional tournament starting on Thursday, Sept. 22.

";We just want to keep this thing going,"; Anderson said. ";We really feel we can be right there when things shake down.";

For the Packers, who have never qualified as a team for the state tournament, it's a chance at another first.