Chiefs boys tennis outshines Suns
Alan Dale/Columbia Basin Herald<br> Connor Lange eyes the ball and his next point during his two-set win at No. 1 singles for Moses Lake on Tuesday.
MOSES LAKE — Use any adjective or verb to describe the Moses Lake Chiefs boys tennis team’s performance on Tuesday against Southridge and the description would probably be consistent with one word:
Dominant.
The Chiefs cruised to their second 7-0 sweep of the season and with the victory bumped their record to 6-3 overall.
What made the result even more impressive was that the Chiefs’ were without their normal No. 2 singles player, Conner Koreis.
“Conner texted me at lunch to let me know he was out sick from school,” Moses Lake coach Jon Wrigley said. “So we did some shuffling before the match.”
Tyler Knapp stepped into Koreis’ place and registered a solid 6-2, 6-3 win.
Mikael Mulugeta romped to a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles for Moses Lake and No. 4 Nathan Osborne pulled away in a 6-4, 6-0 win.
All these results made life easy for season-long No. 1 player Connor Lange who made easy work of Bryan Chung in a 6-1, 6-0 win.
“The singles took care of business,” Wrigley said. “Everyone after Lange moved up a spot and got the job done.”
In doubles action, Dominic Cacchiotti and Levi Huddleston dominated the net in a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 1 doubles.
Moses Lake teams of Josh Black/Adam Coulson at No. 2 and Nat Mengist/Michael Mekonen at No. 3 doubles also secured two-set wins, 6-1, 7-5, and 6-1, 6-1 respectively.
Kiona-Benton boys 3, Royal 2
BENTON CITY — An unfortunate forfeit at No. 3 doubles took away any chance the Royal boys team had of pulling out an South Central Athletic Conference (SCAC) victory on Tuesday.
Splits at singles and doubles, coupled with the forfeit loss gave Royal a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Kiona-Benton.
Royal’s wins came at No. 1 singles where Candelario Peraza defeated Emi Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4 and at No. 1 doubles with Noah Grant and Chase Hebdon pulling out a 7-5, 6-4 victory against Matt Zyph and Jonny Crawford.
Both the number two singles and doubles matches went to Kiona-Benton in lopsided decisions.
“Our players lacked focus today and their usual enthusiastic energy was nowhere to be found,” Royal coach Josh Drewry said. “Credit is due to Ki-Be’s players, who certainly brought their best game to the court and played exceptionally well.”
Southridge girls 5, Moses Lake 2
MOSES LAKE — Following a big win at Eastmont on Saturday the Chiefs girls tennis team returned home Tuesday hoping to build on that momentum.
However, Southridge came to play and held on for a 5-2 victory in Big 9 action.
At No. 4 singles, Moses Lake’s Jessica Homesley rattled off a 6-4, 7-5 win.
“Jessica is now 3-1 since the switch from first doubles,” Wrigley said. “Jessica is so patient out on the court, she is willing to dig in and refuse to give her opponents free points.”
Other singles players — No. 1 Rachel Korth, No. 2 Rachel Hofstetter, and No. 3 Melissa Calder — all dropped their matches, with Hofstetter dropping a three-set decision.
In doubles, Amanda Hart and Annalise Odegaard recorded a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win for the Chiefs’ other team point.
“Our doubles play has really picked up since we got back from spring break,” Wrigley said. “Hart and Odegaard appear to have chemistry and are gaining in confidence every match they get.”
The No. 1 team of Courtney Kunjara and Audrey Ramsden lost in two sets as did the No. 2 pairing of Iris Banks and Micaiah Stones.
Kiona-Benton girls 5, Royal 0
BENTON CITY — The host Kiona-Benton girls recorded a strong 5-0 win Tuesday over the visiting Royal Lady Knights.
Ki-Be swept all five matches behind four two-set victories and a three-set decision at No. 2 singles.