Outlaws had busy week on tennis court

The boys tennis team was able to get in three matches this past week: a win in their first match at home against Molalla on Tuesday, April 9, followed by an unfortunate first-league loss to Cascade a day later, and a win over Philomath on Friday to wrap up the week.

Tuesday’s match against the Indians ended in a four-four tie, with Sisters winning the tiebreaker by virtue of a 71-60 advantage in games won.

The Outlaws easily won all four of their singles matches.

Jed Kizziar (No. 1) defeated Eric Jones 6-3, 6-0, and improved to 5-2 in singles matches.

Nate Weber got off to a quick start, and won his first match against Lucas Kendrup 6-0.

Nate wrapped it up with a 6-4 win to take the match in two straight sets.

Keaton Green continued to improve and impress as he stepped up to the No. 3 spot and cruised to a 6-0, 6-1, win over Tony Morphin.

Green is now 4-2 in singles play.

Brogan Petterson, normally a doubles player, won his first singles match of the year (No. 4) with a 6-0, 6-2, victory over Matt Stephens.

The convincing singles wins helped put the Outlaws over the top in the team tiebreaker.

A day later, the Outlaws’ string of wins came to a halt when they lost at home to Cascade. This match also ended in a tie, but this time the Outlaws lost the tiebreaker in games-won, 79-82.

The big match of the day was in No. 1 singles between Nate Weber and Ben Suelze. Suelze won in three tight sets, and Coach Carl Click told The Nugget it was the closest and best tennis he’s seen all season. Weber lost a couple deuce points in the no-ad scoring, with unforced errors that could have flipped the third and deciding set.

“The two players pounded the ball from the baseline, and when they came to the net there were many quick exchanges,” said Click. “Parents and fans and coaches watching frequently broke out in applause after long, athletic points no matter who won.”

Kizziar sailed to a 6-3, 6-1, No. 2 singles win over Jake Sturgen. Jed is 6-2 in singles play. Green added a 6-2, 6-4, No. 3 singles win over Justine Torres. The win moved Keaton to 5-2 in singles

play.

Aaron Johnson and Sam Mayes (No. 2 doubles) earned a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, hard-fought victory over Bradyn Burdorf and Luke Stone. Click told The Nugget it was an especially satisfying win for the duo, as over the past two years they have come out on the losing end of several close matches.

In another match, Colton Seymour and Aspen Geisen got a 6-4, 7-5, win over Surl Garcia and Spencer Hawkes, and are 4-1 as a team.

On Friday at Black Butte Ranch, the Outlaws earned a win over Philomath in a make-up match that was canceled earlier in the season due to the rain. Teams split four matches, but Sisters won the tiebreaker with a 9-6 advantage in sets.

Weber (No. 2 singles) and Green (No. 3 singles) both cruised to easy victories. Nate defeated James Erickson 6-1, 6-2, and Green beat Filp Furuleth 6-1, 6-2.

Seymour, usually a doubles player, didn’t win his No. 4 singles match, but won the first set in a three-set loss, which proved to be the difference for the Outlaws. Final scores were 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

“Colton played his best tennis of the season with continuous hard forehand top-spin ground strokes,” said Click. “His opponent, Noah Aynes, just seemed to get everything back, and outlasted Seymour.”

Bates and Collins-Burke had an impressive 6-1, 6-1, win over Ben Gary and Trevor Foster at No. 3 doubles.

Sisters’ fourth win came as a forfeit in the No. 4 doubles match since Philomath was only able to bring 10 players to the match.

Kizziar lost 6-3, 6-2, to Colton Beckstead in No. 1 singles. Last year Jed beat Beckstead twice, which included a win in the district championship match.

Eli Gurney and Brogan Petterson played their best match of the season at No. 1 doubles, but it wasn’t quite enough for the win. The pair lost 6-3, 6-3, to Luke Haslem and Nick Stucki. Haslem was half of the second-place doubles team at state a year ago.

“The Outlaws went toe-to-toe with what may be the best doubles team in the district this year” said Click. “They returned hard serves, served well, and put away many winners.”

Sisters was scheduled to play at Stayton on Tuesday, April 16. They will play at Woodburn at home on Thursday.