Boys tennis wraps up district tournament

The Outlaws tennis team had two players, sophomores Dominic Pulver and Jack Murray, compete in the final two-day event of the Special District 4 Tournament, held at Prineville High School May 17–18. Pulver earned a fourth-place finish and will advance to the State Championship to be held in Corvallis Thursday through Saturday, May 23–25.

On Friday, Pulver made short work of his opponent Alex Salas of Irrigon and won the match 6-0, 6-2. Pulver hit the ball hard from the baseline, came in for a volley when he had opportunity, and consistently finished the point with a down the line back hand, or an overhead smash.

Coach Vince Grace said, “I really liked the deep balls Dominic was making when he consistently stroked the ball from the baseline. Ultimately, his competitor was not able to handle the pace Dominic put on the ball.”

Bracket play continued and Pulver went on to face Prineville’s Marcos Munoz (ended tournament as District Champ in singles) and was defeated 1-6, 3-6.

Grace said, “What was impressive about Munoz was that he went for the put away on any short ball that was hit his way. What was impressive about Dominic was his grit, his ability to scramble and chase down those killer put aways thrown at him. As a young sophomore playing older more experienced players now, I fully expect to see Dominic at the top of the bracket in the years to come.”

On Saturday, Pulver faced Jamie Acunas of Prineville. In the first set he had some great first serves, and some big scrambles to get the ball back into play, but in the end fell 1-6. The second set came down to a tie breaker. Pulver continued to scramble and made it a close game, which could have gone either way. At least twice Pulver was one shot away from winning the set, but lost 7-9. His efforts earned him a fourth place.

Murray, in Friday’s play, was defeated by Victor Covarrubias of Prineville, 0-6, 1-6. In the consolation bracket on Saturday he was blanked 0-6, 0-6, by Shallon Mendoza of Riverside.

Grace said, “What impressed me the most about Jack was him fighting through his sore hip issue to still give his best effort. Jack is a guy that has come a long ways in a short time frame. His tireless work ethic drives the whole team to get better.”