In a challenging match against Redmond, The Dalles boys’ tennis team won one set and nearly claimed four others in an 8-0 loss to Redmond in a non-league tennis match played Monday in The Dalles.
For TD head coach Shea MacNab, he has a large contingent of freshmen players hitting the varsity circuit for the first time, but he has seen the group grow by leaps and bounds.
“It is easy for me to brag about our boys’ tennis team, but the biggest compliments I get are from the coaches of the other team, who three times now have complimented our team on how talented our players are and how respectful they are during their match,” MacNab said.
TD’s closest match of the day was at No. 1 doubles, where Alex Lopez and Omar Rodriguez went up against Nick Willis and Garrett Gross.
Willis and Gross won the opening set by a 6-3 score, but Lopez and Rodriguez bounced back for a 6-2 win to set up a third-set tiebreaker round.
Both teams dueled back-and-forth over the first 20 set points with the score deadlocked at 10-apiece, but the Redmond duo scratched across the final two points to notch the win.
At No. 3 singles, Carlos Jauregui defeated Pedro Lopez in the first set, 6-2, and then won a second-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (8-6) in what was a close showdown.
“Pedro Lopez had a great comeback in the second set as did Alex and Omar,” MacNab said.
Andy Lopez had another close match at No. 4 singles versus Conner Lennie, battling back from a 1-6 loss in the first set with a 4-6 setback in set two.
Redmond’s No. 3 team of Isaac Hathaway and Chad Pilling defeated TD’s Devam Patel and Jose Reyes, 6-4, 6-0.
“Devam and Jose played together for the first time, and once again, this match could have gone either way because each game was so close,” MacNab said.
Joel Altamirano and Sam Husband toppled Ethan Martin and Brandon Bustamante by scores of 6-2, 6-3 in a No. 2 doubles match.
The Redmond tandem of Thomas Koutsopoulos and Kyle Kowalski inched past Jordan Dexter and Manuel Orquiz, 6-4, 6-1.
In their No. 2 singles match, Noah Fitzsimmons claimed a 6-0, 6-0 victory over James Pashek, and Benny Saito came through with a 6-1, 6-1 against TD’s Quinn Wilson in a No. 1 singles match.
Although a freshman, MacNab lauded the gritty play of Wilson, the team’s No. 1 player, who has seen some tough competition early in the season.
“The match was much closer than the final score, as many games could have gone either way,” MacNab said. “Not many freshmen in the state play the No. 1 singles spot and Quinn gladly accepted this challenge. There will be many great things to come for Quinn as his high school tennis career moves forward.”
The Dalles hosts Hermiston at 4 p.m. today, and then travels to Redmond for a match against Ridgeview at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.