Wabash Tennis Defeats Eastern
Wabash Tennis wins over Eastern Jr & Sr High School (4 – 1)
Wabash Tennis took the courts for the 2nd consecutive evening to face Easter HS. Wabash was able to win in 4 of the 5 matches to take the competition and record another win on the season.
“We played well tonight and honestly won a match we should win. We have a consistently strong lineup at 1 singles, 2 singles and 1 doubles which we hope can propel us far throughout the season. When we are at full strength, like we were tonight, we can typically get another point at either 3 singles or the 2 doubles spot. Our goal is to leverage these strengths to win the matches we are supposed to win and compete hard with the great teams to maybe get a win that most would not expect. The kids are working hard and improving, I look forward to seeing what they accomplish in the 2nd half of the season.” Coach Mattern
At 1 singles Grant Ford won 6-3, 6-1. Using a nice mix of placement and patience Grant found a rhythm around game 7 of the individual match leading to a straight set victory.
Eli Mattern played at 2 singles again for the Apaches and cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory. “Eli continues to grow in his understanding of the game. Tonight was a nice match for him, taking what his opponent gave him in terms of playing to win the game strategically. As the match progressed, Eli was able to work on a serve and volley game and was attacking on short balls which will further develop him as a player. Eli can create a match up problem for a lot of teams at his 2 singles spot.’ Coach Mattern shared.
At 3 singles Troy Guenin-Hodson played his game and came away with a straight set victory 6-2, 6-4. Using speed and determination, Troy challenged his opponent this evening by keeping the ball in play and chasing down every shot.
Cooper Long and Alex Dinkins, playing at 1 doubles, also won in straight sets. Controlling the match and making the right shots and decisions, the duo won 6-4, 6-3. Coach Mattern shared, “Tonight was a great match by both Alex and Cooper. They have worked hard to learn the complexities of the doubles game and gelled well to be a very challenging opponent for anyone they play. Playing doubles is a fast paced, high energy game. Tonight, both boys served very well, were aggressive at the net, and used their shotmaking abilities to make things very hard for their opponents to get any kind of rhythm or momentum going. This combo is a great asset to our team for sure.”
Playing at 2 doubles, Spencer Stout and Ashton Coffman fought hard but dropped the first set 4-6, then struggled to recover in the second set, which they lost 1-6.
In JV action TJ Friter played possibly his best match of the year, winning 8-6. Nick Perkins played at 2 singles losing 4-8. Dylan Pence won at 3 singles 8-3 and Cael McCann and TJ Tracy lost 1-8.
Wabash Varsity is now 5-5 on the season. Up next week for the Apache Netters should be two great matches. Tuesday brings Bluffton to town and Wednesday the team travels to Rochester for a TRC Conference showdown.
