Huskies best Tigers on the court

OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies earned 5-0 team victories from both the boys and girls Tuesday afternoon after facing the Ephrata Tigers. 

“It was a good day,” said Huskies Boys Head Coach Caleb Tovar. “I think we had a couple players step up big as far as just being down that one singles player and having to shift people around. I think everyone did a good job just stepping up no matter where I put them.” 

One of the closest matches of the afternoon was in the first singles match between Huskies player Max Harris and Tigers player Avery Morris. The coaches said both of these players stepped up into the first singles position with the starting players on both sides facing injury or illness Tuesday.

“It was my first time playing singles varsity and I got bumped up to first singles because our usual guy’s injured,” said Max. “I was definitely pretty nervous, and it affected how I played the game, mostly in the beginning.” 

The Huskies player said once he got over his nerves, the two players became evenly matched. 

Morris gained the advantage early on after winning a close first set 6-4. Max came back swinging in the second set to win 6-3 and put the two into a third set. 

“I was trying not to get too frustrated with myself when I’d make a little mistake. I hit a lot into the doubles lines because I’m used to that, so I had to adjust,” said Max. “I was trying to fix my mistakes and not get too down on myself and (kept) going.” 

The two players clashed back and forth in the third set until finally coming to a 7-6 conclusion, which pushed the two into a tiebreaker set. In the tiebreaker, Max pulled ahead to claim the number one singles victory. 

“I definitely need some more practice, I need to get more used to it and I’ve got to just work on confidence,” said Max. 

The remaining boys matches featured exciting matchups as Armoni Zuniga from the Huskies claimed a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Gavin Somes in the number two singles and the number one doubles match between Othello’s Jace Ritchie and Ben Meredith and Ephrata’s Ben McLain and Peter Sanchez ended 6-3, 6-3 in favor of the Huskies. 

With quick victories in the second and third doubles matches, the Huskies boys claimed a full team victory. 

The Huskies girls earned their first victory of the evening in the number one singles match between the Othello senior duo of Shaylee Freeman and Faith Risenmay and Ephrata’s Kara Davis and Lilly Brewer. Othello was dominant on the court for the number one singles as they won 6-0, 6-0. 

The number one doubles victory was quickly followed by a number one singles victory as Othello senior Olivia Harris had an energetic bout against Ephrata’s Jillian Linehan. Olivia took a strong 6-0 victory to start out her first match and in the second match, Linehan put up a strong effort, but ultimately the Othello senior took the second match 6-2 and put the Huskies girls team up 2-0. 

Olivia said she was happy with the results of her matchup as she started out strong and utilized her mental game to earn the victory. 

“Just having a good head game, it’s a lot of mental (focus),” she said. “If you can keep your mental game good, that helps so much, especially in singles.” 

The Huskies girls continued their winning streak as the number two singles and number two and three doubles each claimed wins for a full team victory. 

Tovar said a key takeaway for the Huskies following their meet against the Tigers was that they should never be content with their skill level and always keep pushing to get better. Both Huskies teams are undefeated in their first five matchups of the season, and the coaches want their players to stay sharp as they begin to face the top teams in the Central Washington Athletic Conference.  

With the success of their matches Tuesday and the injured players set to make a return for Othello in the next few days, the Huskies coach said he expects the roster to remain deep this season. 

“Keeping them focused on the ultimate goal which is to go as far as we can and beat the best teams to be the best team and just making sure that we don’t let our guard down,” said Tovar. 

Tigers Boys Head Coach Greg Becker said while the results of the day were disappointing for Ephrata, the players have some key takeaways that can help them down the stretch as the young team builds itself up for their tough league matchups ahead. With Ephrata having to fill in positions as they too were missing players, those who stepped up filled in their roles well.  

“Our goal long term is the whole season,” said Becker. “To get better each match, get better each day at practice so that when we get to the end, we unleash our full potential and see how we do.” 

Michael Bosnar, the Tigers Girls Head Coach, said he was proud of how his young team performed Tuesday against an experienced Othello squad and has seen the girls filling in their roles of the graduating seniors from last season. 

He said that playing in matches against a team like the Huskies is a great learning experience for the young players as they can come off the court with great takeaways to grow as the season progresses. 

“If you have really great opponents, don’t get upset about losing to them or anything like that,” said Bosnar. “Honestly, these are great losses, you can learn from them, you can pick up a lot of things that they do well and put them to work next time.” 

The Huskies head on the road Thursday to face a formidable Selah team at 4 p.m. and the Tigers return home to host a tough Ellensburg team at 4 p.m. 

RESULTS

Boys 

Max Harris (OTHL) def. Avery Morris (EPHT) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) 

Armoni Zuniga (OTHL) def. Gavin Somes (EPHT) 6-2, 6-2 

Jace Ritchie/Ben Meredith (OTHL) def. Ben McLain/Peter Sanchez (EPHT) 6-3, 6-3 

George Arevalo/Isaac Roylance (OTHL) def. Yael Hurtado/Athen Gault (EPHT) 6-2, 6-0 

Camilo Mendez/C-rizz Duran (OTHL) def. Jeremiah Alvarez/Daniel Kissler 6-0, 6-0 

Girls 

Olivia Harris (OTHL) def. Jillian Linehan (EPHT) 6-0, 6-2 

Cierra Giles (OTHL) def. Kate Meadke (EPHT) 6-0, 6-0 

Shaylee Freeman/Faith Risenmay (OTHL) def. Kara Davis/Lilly Brewer (EPHT) 6-0, 6-0 

Alexa Peterson/Amber Freeman (OTHL) def. Maycee Black/Avery Gault (EPHT) 6-1, 6-3 

Addie Roylance/Hazel Roylance (OTHL) def. Milli Hope/Kaitlyn Wolther (EPHT) 6-1, 6-1

    Othello senior Olivia Harris tracks the ball after a hit from the opposing Tigers player, Jillian Linehan, during Tuesday’s matchup. Olivia said she was pleased with her results after winning her matchup and is ready to continue through the season.
  

    Avery Morris from the Tigers prepares to serve the ball to the opposing Huskies player Max Harris in the number one singles matchup Tuesday afternoon.
  

    Ephrata’s Jillian Linehan gets ready to respond to a hit from Othello’s Olivia Harris during the number one singles match Tuesday.
  

    Tigers player Ben McLain prepares to serve during the number one doubles matchup against the Huskies.
  

    Huskies number one doubles team with Ben Meredith (black bandana) at the net and Jace Ritchie (pink bandana) getting ready to serve.
  

    Faith Risenmay, a senior from Othello, smacks the ball back to the opposing team during the number one doubles match against Ephrata.
  

    Ephrata’s Lilly Brewer chases the ball to hit it back over to the opposing Huskies players during the number one doubles matchup Tuesday afternoon.