Madson, Chambers pull off wins in defeat
Moses Lake girls tennis lose to Kamiakin
MOSES LAKE — Jon Wrigley's strategy partly pulled off against Kamiakin on Tuesday at the Moses Lake High School.
He stuck Patrick Anderson and Jeff Warner together as doubles partners and the duo swept Kamiakin's No. 1 double team of Quin Miller and Kris Tovar 6-4, 6-3. But the Braves took the team advantage with a 6-1 win over the Chiefs in the match.
"I put them there feeling pretty confident that they would have success," Wrigley said. "We were shorthanded and I wanted to try and put more strength in the doubles."
Wrigley, who has been in the position as the head boys tennis coach for two weeks, leapfrogged across the state from Mount Spokane, Interlake and Bellevue, before coming to Moses Lake. The former Whitworth tennis player believes his best quality is maximizing talent.
Given time, he feels he can give the boys' tennis team the right tools to help them hurdle past the bottom of the Big Nine and become a legitimate contender. But, he pointed out that there is no year-round program established to help Moses Lake be fully competitive in the league.
"They go out and win the matches and I try to prepare them to do that," Wrigley said.
In particular, Robert Glaeser is one player Wrigley feels will be a competitor for the Chiefs.
The foreign exchange student from Germany, who lost Tuesday 6-3, 6-2 to Kamiakin's No. 1 singles player Alex Hart, was a club tennis player who let the game slip away from him, Wrigley said. But the tools and abilities are still there to turn him into a force in the Big Nine.
"He has a really solid game and I look forward to watching him improve," Wrigley added. "I expect him to have that success."
At No. 2 singles, Ben Nye lost to the Braves' Eric Otto 6-0, 6-0, Moses Lake's Sam Johnson lost to Scott Brown 6-1, 6-0 and Nolan Ryan fell to Kamiakin's Yo Thai 6-2, 6-1.
At the No. 2 doubles spot for Moses Lake, Rob Leary and Davie Sawyer fell to Anthony Butler and Daryl DeFord 6-3, 6-4 and Brent McCaffery and Christian Trujillo fell to Kamiakin's No. 3 doubles team Jordan Engle and Gordi Minter 6-0, 6-0.
On the girls side, Gabe Madson came out on top for Moses Lake against the Braves' No. 1 singles player Caitlin Bampton 7-5, 6-3. A match Moses Lake girls coach Sarah Sawyer thought was too close from her No. 1 singles player.
"I think today she under-estimated her opponent and she realized she had to play like a no. 1 singles player and she did," Sawyer added.
Madson was followed by Nikki Chambers, who topped Kamiakin's No. 2 singles player Shauna Montgomery in three sets 6-1, 0-6, 6-4. Chambers moved to Moses Lake before the season and Sawyer said she should be at the top of the Big Nine along with Madson.
Not far behind was Charleen Johnson, who as a freshman, played in her first match for Moses Lake, only to fall to Kamiakin's Bri Delin 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, but giving the Chiefs some depth in the top three singles spots.
"Charleen has the talent and the ability, she just hasn't had enough competition and will mature quickly," Sawyer said.
At the No. 4 singles spot, Moses Lake's Kelsey Amara fell to Thao Thai 6-0, 6-3; No. 1 doubles' Jill Baker and Lexie Graham lost to Kamiakin's Morgan Veleke and Carly Ross 6-1, 6-2; No. 2 doubles' Ashley Gessel and Michelle Karr fell to the Braves' Heather Halgren and Laura Levan 6-0, 6-1; and Moses Lake's Briar Stevens and Deidra Kofoed lost to Sarah Sandusky and Cammi Burns 6-0, 6-0.
"I was hoping for a win and we were close to getting three," Sawyer said about the loss to Kamiakin.