Twenty student-athletes make up the 2023 Boys’ Varsity tennis team; eight are seniors. The first official practice was on February 13, and it didn’t take long to realize that many of the players improved considerably during the off-season.
The players took that dedication, hard work, and passion and applied it to a very formidable Piedmont team on Thursday. The results were outstanding in that we only lost three sets total in the nine matches played. Most of the matches were won decisively.
Because it was also junior Ace Reeder’s birthday, the team dedicated the win to him. There were so many matches that deserve to be mentioned that it’s hard to single out just one. #1 Tyler Toni played an amazing match only giving up five games to a very sound and talented Smolko. Toni was striking the ball with accuracy, pace, and consistency and covered the court extremely well. For those on the sideline, the quality of play was like watching a match on TV. #2 Nick Owens traded sets and then pulled off the win 10-8 in a nail-biting deciding tiebreaker. His opponent really picked up his game in the second set, but Owens upped his level as well. His consistency, execution and mature shot-making decisions helped him pull off a great win. #4 Tucker Brewer, #5 Diego Ledezma, #6 Luke Brightbill, and all three doubles teams looked dominant in their straight-set victories.
Because this was a scrimmage match as opposed to a practice or league match, it is not recorded anywhere and does not get factored into the team’s overall win-loss record. However, Piedmont is a solid team with reputable players, and this was an exceptional moral victory and starts our season on a very positive note. On February 23, the team will travel to Bishop O’Dowd for its first official practice match of the season. Expect the next boosters update to get posted shortly after that.
Welcome back, parents and students! We’re looking forward to the spring season and taking it one match at a time. Below are the match scores against Piedmont. Coach Rick.
Singles
#1 Tyler Toni (A) defeated Lucas Smolko (P) 6-3, 6-2
#2 Nick Owens (A) defeated Ben Breber (P) 6-1, 4-6, 10-8
Ethan Pham (P) defeated #3 Zach Snyder (A) 6-1, 6-4
#4 Tucker Brewer (A) defeated Arun Brahma (P) 6-0, 6-2
#5 Diego Ledezma (A) defeated Nate Welch (P) 6-1, 6-1
#6 Luke Brightbill (A) defeated Graham Alban (P) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
#1 Aaron Brown/Ace Reeder (A) defeated Xiaowei Elias/Willie Tenney (P) 6-2, 6-2
#2 Kaya Hoeberechts/Ben Reinsberg (A) defeated Chris Li/Zach Berg (P) 6-2, 7-6 (2)
#3 Sammy Foster/Will Lofting (A) defeated Alex Zalewski/Kasper Jansson (P) 6-0, 6-3