Chiefs get the horns as Rams hold on

YAKIMA — A trip to West Valley was a nice, late season litmus test on Tuesday for the Moses Lake Chiefs boys tennis team.

Unfortunately, the Chiefs dropped a 5-2 decision to the Big 9 heavies as the Rams swept singles play en route to the victory.

“They have a strength at the top half of the ladder, have great talent and go a little deeper with special club level players then most schools in our league,” Moses Lake coach Jon Wrigley said. “We knew we could catch them in a few spots we tried to do some tweaking to our lineup to put us in a better position for success.”

Moses Lake took two of the three doubles matches behind the play of the No. 2 team of Dominic Cacchiotti and Levi Huddleston, who won 6-3, 6-4 and the strong play of No. 3 duo, Michael Mekonen and Nat Mengist, that came back from a set down to record a 3-6, 6-1 6-0 win.

“Nat is now 6-0 at 3rd doubles with another big win,” Wrigley said. “He has been a real source of energy for us on and off the court.”

Othello boys 3, Grandview 2

OTHELLO — Two key wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles allowed the Othello Huskies to sneak past Grandview 3-2 on Tuesday afternoon.

Parker Davis and Taylor Vigneri won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 while Ryan Garza and Wesley Cogswell captured the other doubles victory for Othello in a 6-3, 6-4 decision.

No. 2 singles play, Alec Montemayor, secured the Othello win with a 6-1, 6-3 victory.

“Alex had a solid performance,” Othello coach Robert Pruneda said. “He is working on his serve right now.  Once he gets it down he will be harder to beat.

Granger boys 3, Royal 2

ROYAL CITY — Unable to field No. 2 and 3 doubles teams, the Royal Knights fell 3-2 to visiting Granger on Tuesday.

The two forfeits came at an unfortunate time for Royal, which took two of the three matches that played out.

Candelario Peraza won at No. 1 singles with a 6-4, 6-0 performance and the No. 1 doubles team of Chase Hebdon and Noah Grant pulled out a tense 7-5, 6-4 win.

Royal has not been able to field a full team for most of this season.

West Valley girls 5, Moses Lake 2

YAKIMA — Despite strong singles play by Rachel Hofstetter and the No. 3 doubles team of Iris Banks and Micaiah Stones, the Moses Lake girls fell to West Valley 5-2 on Tuesday.

The host Rams won singles matches at Nos. 1, 3, and 4, in six straight sets while losing only five total games.

However, Hofstetter brought her “A” game in giving her Ram opponent a taste of their own medicine in a 6-3, 6-0 shellacking.

“Rachel continues to grow into a solid player as she has taken her patient approach and added a bit more in her bag of tricks,” Wrigley said. “At the start of the year she would not attack when opponents gave her the opportunity.  The past few games she has begun to put pressure on her opponents, she is really reaching towards the next level on the court.”

Banks and Stones took a 7-5. 7-5 win at No. 3 doubles while their teammate No. 1 and No. 2 duo dropped two tough two-set matches.

“The fight was there on every court, but a team that has a state champion at the top and solid depth was a tough match for us.” Wrigley said. “Iris and Micaiah lost in a tiebreak to Amanda and Annalise they were disappointed about moving down a spot but really played well.  Their opponents tried to play unorthodox and both stayed back because our girls had dominated the net and backed them off.  It rattled them a bit in the second set, a time-out and a discussion about strategy got them back on the right track to finish the match.”

Othello girls 3, Grandview 2

OTHELLO — Three two-set victories were enough for the Othello girls tennis team to pull out a tough 3-2 win over Grandview.

In singles play, the teams split, with Othello getting their win at No. 2 as Emily Morgan pulled out a 6-0, 7-5 win.

The Lady Huskies then took two out of three in doubles play as Othello’s top two duos pulled out strong wins.

Jody Walker and Kayla Spor won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 while Emma Hymus and Amelia Roylance captured a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 2 doubles.

“Jody and Kayla continued their great play at the net,” Pruneda said. “They are peaking at the right time.

Granger girls 5, Royal 0

ROYAL CITY — Granger fought off impending rain and a valiant Royal Lady Knights team to record a 5-0 win on Tuesday.

Royal dropped two second set tiebreakers that could have forced third sets at No. 2 singles and No.3 doubles which may have changed some of the course of the meet.

“Despite the overall loss, I am very proud of the way my players performed,” Royal coach Joshua Drewry said. “It is the mark of a good match when the players who lost can come away smiling, knowing they played their best.”