Huskies boys earn close team wins over Toppenish

OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies boys (6-2) tennis team earned a 4-1 victory at home against Toppenish Wednesday afternoon. Once again, multiple players filled roles where they were needed and found success.

“Even when we’re shorthanded, we have players that can step up big,” said Huskies Boys Coach Caleb Tovar.

The Huskies boys started the afternoon with George Arevalo stepping up from second doubles to fill in the first singles position, as the starting singles player is still out with a knee injury. Arevalo battled hard against a tough Luis Godines from Toppenish, but ultimately, Toppenish took the first match 4-6, 5-7.

Tovar said he was very proud of the effort that Arevalo gave Wednesday and noted that his match was the closest any of the Othello players have come in facing Godines on the court.

Max Harris once again played varsity singles for the Huskies in the second singles position, where he faced Toppenish’s Josue Arellano. Harris was dominant on the court and earned a quick 6-0, 6-0 victory.

Othello’s boys second and third doubles teams both gained convincing victories on the court as Camilo Mendez and Isaac Roylance defeated Joseph Puyette and Orlando Pacheco 6-1, 6-2 and Armoni Zuniga/Cris Duran shut down Javier Diaz and Jr Marquez 6-0, 6-0.

The boys first doubles match became a close competition between Othello’s Jace Ritchie and Ben Meredith and Toppenish’s Moises Gonzalez and Lucas Wapsheli. The two teams went back and forth in the first set until Othello took it 7-5.

“We started off really slow, made a lot of bad shots, but we stayed in the game until the very end,” said Ritchie. “When they slowed down we just started placing it and then built momentum until we won the first set – just barely.”

At the start of the second set, Meredith’s racket strings broke, forcing him to make a switch and throwing him off his game for most of the set. The Huskies rallied to win that set 6-3.

“We pulled through, (Ritchie) got better at net and I was able to get some crucial serves in, and keeping morale helped a lot,” said Meredith.

The two Huskies said they go into every matchup and practice aiming to get better, but also make an initiative to have fun while playing. For them, liking the sport and having a good time go hand in hand with improving their skills.

 As they prepare for the rest of the season, the duo said they will continue to focus on getting better each day. Both Ritchie and Meredith said they have set goals for themselves to beat Selah, go to state and place at state.

“Tell Selah we’re coming for them,” said Meredith.

Following a 1-4 team loss against East Valley the day prior, Tovar said he was glad to see the boys rally and earn the team victory. As they move forward in the season, the question remains whether they can return their first singles player from injury, but the level of play shown by Arevalo and Harris who have stepped into the role has the coach feeling confident.

“Having some tough competitive practices and making sure that they’re getting some reps against some higher-level tennis players, so sometimes bringing in other people to come into our practices or just playing old players,” he said. “Just making sure we keep our practices competitive and high intensity.”

The success seen Wednesday on both the boys and girls side highlighted the strength of the Huskies bonds that have been built over the years, said Coach Caleb Tovar.

“We’ve got a good group of kids; they all get along really well,” he said. “It’s nice to see because the practice or the matches will finish and they’re taking off in a group together. They’re going to go to the park and play some more tennis or go play pickleball, and they do a lot of team bonding stuff, even without coaches setting it up.”

The Huskies play on their home court once again Tuesday, against Prosser at 4 p.m.

Results

Boys

Luis Godines (TOPP) def. George Arevalo (OTHL) 4-6, 5-7

Max Harris (OTHL) def. Josue Arellano (TOPP) 6-0, 6-0

Jace Ritchie/Ben Meredith (OTHL) def. Moises Gonzalez/Lucas Wapsheli (TOPP) 7-5, 6-3

Camilo Mendez/Isaac Roylance (OTHL) def. Joseph Puyette/Orlando Pacheco (TOPP) 6-1, 6-2

Armoni Zuniga/Cris Duran (OTHL) def. Javier Diaz/Jr Marquez (TOPP) 6-0, 6-0

    Othello’s Jace Ritchie returns the serve to the opposing first doubles team from Toppenish during Wednesday’s meet.
  

    George Arevalo from Othello prepares to respond to a Toppenish serve in the first singles match Wednesday.
  

    Huskies player Cris Duran smacks the ball back over the net to Toppenish during Wednesday afternoon’s third doubles match.
  

    Isaac Roylance from Othello prepares for the incoming serve from Toppenish during the third doubles match Wednesday.