The improved Arlington boys tennis team took two victories from their Sept. 21 clash with Cascade.
Arlington got outstanding performances on the doubles side as not a single grouping lost their match. Rain suspended the match between Arlingtons second doubles team of Josh Cobb and Austin Davis at 4-6, 7-5, 3-3, the match will be completed soon. First doubles tandem Will Heath and Max Morin won their match 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. Third doubles team Nick Morin and Ari Fernando also won for Arlington 6-3, 6-1.
The singles players did not fare as well, as all four went down in defeat.
We were close, we just arent quite there, said Coach Ben Mendro. Weve had four close matches this year and weve split them. If we could have gotten all those matches wed have a pretty sweet record right now.
Mendro juggled his doubles lineups a bit to create new chemistry.
The doubles teams were great, he said. If not for the second doubles match being rained out, I think we would have swept the doubles. Ive got some teams right now that have good chemistry. I have a lot of depth on the team.
On the singles side, Garret Meyer started out strong in his No. 2 singles match, winning some impressive points against his opponent Sopheak Seng. Meyer served strong in the first set, staking himself to a 6-3 win. That was when the wheels fell off and Seng made a big comeback winning 6-0, 6-1 in the final two sets.
No. 1 singles player Jacob Aylesworth also played a solid first set against Matt Nguyen before losing momentum and dropping the match.
Eric McElroy forced a second set tie-break in No. 3 singles but could not overcome the consistent hitting of Iran Thongdy. McElroy showed impressive resilience in hitting return shots, but lacked a strong pace to his game.
In No. 4 singles Zach Tankersley found himself in a wild match with plenty of long rallies and hotly contested points, but he too could not find the winning touch.
Still Coach Mendro found a silver lining in the defeat.
At No. 1 doubles, Max and Will are both extremely positive and level-headed. They dont get too emotional out there. Theyve twice lost first sets and come back to win like they did today. They came up to me between sets and said they were going to win and they did.
Morin and Fernando are a recently paired team that displays a contrast in styles. Morin is a fiery, spirited attacker and Fernando plays a mellow, steady game. Mendo likes the combination of the two playing together.
Its an interesting pairing, one freshman, one sophomore, said Mendro. They seem to compliment each other well. Well see what happens.