Centralia kicked off its league schedule against Black Hills, earning a 4-2 win in Evergreen 2A Conference boys tennis action Wednesday in the Hub City.
Black Hills’ No. 1 singles player Gunner Nelson defeated Centralia’s Vance Voetberg, 6-2, 6-3. Centralia’s No. 2 Cobie Blaser defeated Black Hills’ Jonathan Schade, 6-1, 6-2. Centralia won the No. 3 singles match due to a Black Hills forfeit.
In doubles, Centralia’s Ben Corwin and Ryan Mack defeated Black Hills’ Hunter Grabski and Sam Whipple, 6-4, 6-2. Tigers’ Parker Johnson and Stephen Phelps defeated Brenden Brown and Daton McGuire in three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. Black Hills’ Josh Kukas and Jake Perry earned the win over Centralia’s Alex Sniderman and Zach Kaiser, 6-3, 6-0.
“Parker and Stephen showed a lot of grit to comeback after losing the first set and win handily in the third set, I’m excited for the rest of our season after our first league competition,” Centralia coach Keith Hopkins said.
Centralia (1-1, 1-0) is back on the court on Friday at Aberdeen.
Bearcats Swept by Charles Wright
UNIVERSITY PLACE — The Bearcats ran up against a skilled Charles Wright Academy tennis squad here Wednesday and headed back south with a nonleague 5-0 loss.
Andrew Pak, a sophomore playing in the top singles slot for the Bearcats, took a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Dylan Sam, who with his brother Tyler finished third last May in the State 1A/2B/1B doubles tournament.
“Getting to play Dylan Sam was good for him,” Bearcat coach Jack State said. “Dylan is better than anybody in our league this year, so getting to play against a high-quality player was good for him.”
Andrew Painter and E.J. Matagi played well in a 6-2, 6-4 loss at No. 1 doubles, State said, and Alec Ibanez and Andrew Gregory bounced back from a 6-0 loss in the first set to take their No. 3 doubles opponent to extra points in a 7-5 second-set loss.
“I just liked the way they battled and fought,” State noted.
W.F. West (1-2) will host Black Hills on Friday.
