Boys tennis team splits matches at Madras

The Outlaws started their week with a double-header against Madras and Redmond on Tuesday, March 17. Due to weather conditions and the number of matches that were scheduled, coaches agreed to reduce the number of games required to win a set from six to five. The Outlaws lost 6-2 to Redmond and beat Madras 6-2.

Sisters dominated the field at No. 1 and No. 2 singles.

Colin Reinert (No.1 singles) and Connor Schaab (No. 2 singles) won both their matches with ease.

Reinert defeated Noah Fitzsimmons of Redmond 5-2, 5-2 and earned a decisive 5-0, 5-0 victory over Simon Sangha of Madras.

"To be honest, I'm not too surprised with Colin's results," said Coach Bim Gander. "He's an accomplished player and very quick, so he will always dominate someone less experienced. Colin mentioned that he definitely had the butterflies during his debut match for the Outlaws, but if that's true, they never showed from courtside. He looked confident from the start."

Schaab recorded a 5-0, 5-1 win over Jacob Rudd of Madras, and a 5-1, 5-1 victory over Joan Gutierrez of Redmond.

Gander was pleased at how well Schaab played, given that he was short on practice.

"Just days ago, he was playing in the state basketball tournament, and so he missed a number of our early practices, but he came out and played terrific tennis today," said Gander. "He placed a huge percentage of first-serves in, and therefore, was never seriously challenged on serve. On opponents' serve, he played smart defense and easily converted several breaks. For a guy who played doubles almost exclusively last year, Connors' success today was a very pleasant surprise."

The rest of the Outlaws' line-up fared well against Madras, but were challenged by a good Redmond squad.

Andrew Stengel (No. 3 singles) showed good tenacity against Madras' Jeremy Burgos. Stengel won the first set 5-3, lost 3-5 in the second set, and then pulled out a super 10-6 tiebreaker.

Pierce Wehrle and Josh Kizziar (No. 3 doubles) notched their first win in overtime against Ryan Le Riche and Colton Goss of Madras with scores of 5-2, 3-5, and (10-2). Kennedy Hall, who has never played tennis before this season, won his debut match, along with partner Noah Eckstein. The combo defeated their opponents 1-5, 5-2, (9-7).

"It's great to see that almost all of our new starters have one win under their belts," Gander commented. "But a loss will show them all that there's still plenty of room for improvement."

Two days later, Sisters finished in a 4-4 tie with the Cowboys at Crook County.

The Outlaws swept the Cowboys in the doubles matches, but were defeated in all their singles' matches.

Andrew Stengel and Josh Kizziar (No. 3 doubles) won their match against Riley Logan and Lane Piper 6-1, 6-0. Kizziar just started to play tennis this past summer, and according to Gander, is showing steady improvement in every match. Stengel moved from singles to doubles this past week, and his experience proved to be decisive in the win.

Noah Eckstein and Pierce Wehrle (No. 4 doubles) played good, steady tennis which resulted in a 6-1, 6-3 win over Sam Hernandez and Jared Ojeda.

"Noah's serve is much better than average for players at the No. 4 position," noted Gander. "If he can lengthen his swing on the backhand side, he'll be due for a promotion to No. 3."

Reinert, (No. 1 singles) played a very close match against Jack Stubblefield.

"Colin rushed a ground-stroke or two, and missed one crucial overhead, resulting in service-breaks that were the difference in the match. It's a lot tougher to play against a good southpaw like Jack, because the ball spins differently, especially on serve," said Gander.

"Connor Schaab (No. 2 singles) put up a good fight in his match against Garrett Harper (3-6, 3-6) and Gus Gyorgyfalvy (No. 3 singles) improved dramatically in the second set of his match (0-6,4-6)."

First year tennis player, Kennedy Hall (No. 4 singles) played a respectable match against Alex Nyman, who is a much more experienced player.

Crook County was short-handed, so Sisters won their No. 1 doubles (Ethan Stengel and Shawn Horton) and No. 2 doubles (Ben Johnson and Gabe Willitts) matches by default.

The Outlaws will resume play on Thursday, April 2, with a match at home against Bend. On Saturday, April 4, the Outlaws will participate in the Madras Invitational.