In his first year coaching, Sergio Lopez-Galvan wasn’t sure what to expect heading into districts. Devam Patel and Ethan Martin notched a state doubles qualification with fourth place and The Dalles had 19 points to grab third at the Intermountain Conference boys tennis tournament in Redmond.
Coming off a 7-1 loss last week at Redmond, The Dalles boys tennis team played short-handed this past Tuesday, but still scored a 5-0 win at home over Pendleton with every match decided by straight sets.
Over the past three matches, The Dalles boys tennis team has gone 2-1 with wins over Ridgeview and Hood River Valley and a 7-1 loss on the road against Redmond in Tuesday’s varsity contest.
In their 8-0 loss to Columbia River Conference champion Hood River Valley, The Dalles had four matches that could have gone either way, but were counted as close losses in Wednesday’s league finale at The Dalles High School. Andy Lopez lost his No. 2 singles match against Sawyer Bogard by scores of 3-6, 5-7; and at No. 4 singles, Salvador Garcia had a chance to gain an early edge in the first set, eventually losing in a tiebreaker 6-7 (4); and Hood River’s Jacob Kaplan completed the two-set sweep by a 6-2 margin in the second set.
Riding high off its first win over Hood River Valley in more than four years, The Dalles boys’ tennis team played Hermiston to a 4-4 draw, but was edged out in total sets won, 10-9, in a league match played Thursday on the campus of Hermiston High School.
