Leopards sweep Knights

ZILLAH, Wash. — The Royal boys and girls tennis teams battled Zillah High School on the tennis courts Tuesday afternoon, but the Knights couldn’t find a way to cage the Leopards.

Despite poor weather conditions, Royal head coach Josh Drewry said he was proud of his team’s determination.

“The weather was very cold so nobody wanted to be on the court that long,” Josh Drewry said. “I am very proud of the mental and physical stamina exhibited by my players.”

The boys team struggled in singles competition when Ben Singer and Candelario Peraza both fell to their Zillah opponents. Singer fell 6-3, 7-6(7-4) to Cody Dunbar in the first singles and Peraza dropped a pair of 6-0 sets to Zillah’s Troy Dunbar in the second singles.

Royal’s first doubles team of Angel Ledezma and Noah Grant gave the Knights their only victory of the day when they rallied for a 3-6, 6-0, 6-0 three-set win.

Both the Knights and the Leopards boys teams forfeited the second and third doubles matches and Royal fell 1-2-2.

The Royal girls team got off to a fast start in the first singles when Emily Hoelscher knocked off Zillah’s Rosetti Celis 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to give the girls team their only victory of the afternoon. Zillah managed to pull out the second singles match and all three doubles matches to take the 4-1 victory.

Although both teams fell to the Leopards, Drewry said he was proud of his teams.

“Our match against Zillah on Tuesday was excellent,” he said. “We lost both (the) boys and girls, but we had several very close, very fun matches (to watch).”