Boys team competes in three days of tennis

The boys tennis team finished up their week on Saturday, April 4, with their third consecutive day of tennis.

Sisters was overwhelmed by a very deep Bend squad in their first match of the week at home on Thursday, April 2. The Outlaws were short their top singles player, and a couple of other key starters in singles and doubles, and were unable to post a single win in the match.

Pierce Wehrle and Josh Kizziar came closest at No. 3 doubles, with a hard-fought loss in the super-tiebreaker at 10-8, after a split in the first two sets against Miles Herman and Jasper Ladkin.

On Friday, Henley arrived in Sisters with only its top six players, since only half of the team was needed for Saturday's White Buffalo Invitational. Both of Henley's singles players, Jacob Mangan and Christian Meyers, are among the best in the district, and both qualified for the state tournament last year.

Connor Schaab was asked to play up against Mangan at the No. 1 spot, and Andrew Stengel was given an even tougher assignment: to play at the No. 2 position, instead of his usual No. 4 spot. It wasn't a surprise that the Hornets were too strong for Sisters' singles players.

Sisters doubles teams fared better. Billy Biggers and Gabe Willitts (No. 2 doubles) prevailed 7-5, 7-5, over Jorge Baza and Christopher Schroeder.

"Billy, who will divide his time between tennis and track this year, made some shots at key moments to deliver the win," said Coach Bim Gander.

Alex Cyrus and Noah Eckstein (No. 4 doubles) won by default.

Shawn Horton and Ethan Stengel lost in a heartbreaker at the top doubles spot. With a 9-5 lead in the super-breaker, they were unable to hang on, and went down by a count of 11-9 to Spencer Todd and RamRey Duran.

"Henley's doubles teams agreed to play twice, giving some of the lower-ranked Outlaws some valuable playing time against more skilled players than they usually see," said Gander.

Sisters wrapped up their week on Saturday at the White Buffalo Invitational in a nine-team round-robin for No. 1 and 2 singles and No.1 and 2 doubles teams. It was a seven-game tournament format for a total of 63 games played. Placing was determined by games won.

Top finishers in the tournament were: Henley (first), Philomath (second), Estacada (third), and Madras took fourth.

Schaab was again asked to play the No. 1 singles position. Sisters usual No. 1 player, Colin Reinert, foreign exchange student from Germany, took the opportunity at spring break to travel the U.S. Connor finished with an overall sixth-place finish.

Gander told The Nugget that Connor's results were very respectable, especially given the fact that most of the team's No. 1 players have a great deal more experience.

"Connor moves extremely well on the court, and his serve is more consistent and reliable than most, even compared to the other top players," said Gander. "During the coming weeks, we'll work hard to add a little more bite to that shot, and he should be close to unbeatable at his usual No. 2 position."

Ben Johnson and Gabe Willitts (No. 2 doubles) also did well at the tournament, and placed fourth out of nine teams.

"I expect these guys to improve a lot," commented Gander. "They're very imposing, and almost menacing, when they're together at the net. All we need to do is refine the shots that they'll need to get there."

Andrew Stengel earned an eighth-place finish at No. 2 singles, and Shawn Horton and Ethan Stengel finished sixth in No. 1 doubles.

The Outlaws were to play at home against Klamath Union on Tuesday, April 7. Sisters will play at home against Blanchet on Wednesday, April 15.