THE DALLES tennis player Jesus Barajas hustles for a backhand return shot during doubles action this season. Wednesday against Hermiston, the Riverhawks had one win from William Coy in a 7-1 league loss.
THE DALLES tennis player Jesus Barajas hustles for a backhand return shot during doubles action this season. Wednesday against Hermiston, the Riverhawks had one win from William Coy in a 7-1 league loss.
With four matches remaining until the two-day district tournament on May 15-16 in Bend, The Dalles boys’ tennis coach Shea MacNab is still seeing some positives from his varsity squad.
The goal is to harness these gains for a bigger reward when the stakes are raised.
William Coy won his No. 1 singles match and three other matches were nip-and-tuck close losses in a 7-1 league setback versus Hermiston Wednesday at The Dalles High School.
As the lone winner of the day, Coy, was impressive against Valentino Whitesell.
Coy won the opening set by a 6-4 margin and completed the straight-sets triumph by the same 6-4 tally to finish on top.
“(It was an) outstanding performances from Will Coy, who continues to improve as the season goes on,” MacNab said. “Will has a great work ethic and is always looking to challenge himself. Will is a great person to have on the courts. He is always positive and displays outstanding sportsmanship during his matches.”
While Coy enjoyed success on the courts, Daniel Santillan, Alex Lopez, and the No. 3 doubles team of Cody McClintock and Luis Diaz put up inspiring efforts in defeat.
Santillan won the first set 7-5 over Hermiston’s Caleb Jorgenson to gain an edge, but Jorgenson bounced back in the second set by a 6-1 score to send this matchup to a third-set tiebreaker round.
Jorgenson was able to maintain that momentum to a 10-4 score to win.
Lopez took on Ayden Powell at No. 3 singles and lost the first set 3-6 and battled in the second set, but wound up on the losing end by a 6-7 margin.
At No. 4 singles, Pedro Lopez lost by marks of 0-6 and 1-6 to Skyler Grigg to round out the Riverhawks’ singles slate.
Even in defeat, MacNab remained encouraged by the performances of Alex and Pedro Lopez, first-year players who played their first varsity singles matches.
“I was so impressed with how they both performed,” MacNab said. “Pedro served better in this match than I have seen him serve all year. Alex had one of the longest matches of the day, as he kept each set close and pushed the second set to a tiebreak. I asked a lot of both of these guys for this match and they both delivered.”
Griffin Martin and Ethan Semlor ended up on the losing end of their No. 1 doubles match against Hermiston’s Tyler Wadekamper and Jacob Snell by scores of 1-6 and 3-6.
At No. 2 doubles, Joe Singhurst and Jesus Barajas lost 1-6 and 0-6 to Cameron Meade and Race Latham.
In another close contest, McClintock and Diaz lost in two sets to Stefano Peiris and Koby Grigg in a No. 3 doubles tilt, but were on the short side by an average of 1.5 points.
Peiris and Grigg picked up a 7-6 win in the opening set and scored the sweep in set two with a 7-5 margin.
Omar Rodriguez and Caleb Turner capped the day with a two-set loss by scores of 1-6 and 4-6 in a No. 4 doubles match.
The Dalles heads to Moro for a non-league test versus Sherman at 4 p.m. Monday.
After that, the Riverhawks travel to Hood River Valley at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
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