Tuscola boys' tennis edges Pisgah 5-4

Mar. 28—The Tuscola Mountaineers (1-7) narrowly edged out the Pisgah Bears (0-6) by a score of 5-4 on the tennis court on March 24.

The Mounties took home the first bragging rights in the county clash series of games set to hit the county this week.

Tuscola wins a squeaker

Every match was an intense battle, highlighting the crosstown rivalry in which both teams bring their "A" game.

After six singles matches, both Pisgah and Tuscola were even at three games apiece, so the doubles matches determined the winner.

In doubles match one, Truongan Nguyen and Jonas Ottie of Tuscola pulled out an 8-2 victory over Lucas Cody and freshman Jake Lowery.

The match was decided when the number two Tuscola double duos of freshman Keegan Kirkpatrick and Teagan Laursen outscored their Pisgah counterparts, junior Caden Robinson and freshman Sawyer Belue, 8-6.

Hard-fought win

Tuscola head coach Andrew Johnson said it was a hard fought win.

"It came down to number two doubles for us. We had tie breaks on court one and court six and almost a tie break on court two. It was very, very close across the board. Two players managed to sweep their singles and doubles," he said.

In singles, Jonah Ottie was down in the first set and came back and win 7-5 and 6-1. He went in to doubles with Nguyen and won the number one doubles 8-2.

Keagan Kirkpatrick won number two singles 6-3 and 7-5. Going into doubles, Kirkpatrick and Teagan Laursen were able to close out the number two doubles 8-6.

"That secured the win for us. We were tired and just glad to win," Johnson said.

Keep getting better

Despite the close loss, Pisgah head coach Jacob Hannah said they have to keep getting better.

"I've got a bunch of athletes that are becoming tennis players. We got to continue getting better," he said.

There were some bright spots for the Bears' team, however.

Lucas Cody, the number one, secured his first win of the year. He lost 2-6 in the first set; he won the second set 6-3 and then won the tie breaker 10-5.

"I was very proud of him for that. That will help him with his confidence next match," Hannah said.

Hannah also highlighted the accomplishments of Escrig and Lowery.

"Player number three, Sergio Escrig, he just keeps getting better and I'm really proud of him. He gets after it. Freshman Jake Lowery is going to be a dandy, but he plays football and basketball," Hannah said.

Most of all, Hannah wants his team to get experience.

"We're extremely green as far as tennis goes. There are three guys that have never played tennis. We got a bunch of athletes that pick a racket up for a month then go on to football or basketball. We need more live action," he said.

Both teams experience growing pains

The tennis season so far has been a struggle for both the Tuscola Mountaineers and the Pisgah Bears.

Both are very young teams with inexperienced players, many of whom have never played the game prior to this year.

The Bears entered Thursday's contest with a 1-7 record. The Mountaineers' started play winless in the conference with a 0-6 mark.

According to MaxPreps.com, the teams are virtually tied in the stat department, Pisgah having posted a 15-42 match record (26.32%) and Tuscola has played to a 14-40 match record (25.93%).

Matches include six single matches and three double matches; each win is scored as one point.

Pisgah a young team

Hannah said his team is young as far as experience is concerned.

"We have four returners from last years' team, senior Lucas Cody, junior Reece Ray, junior Armand Basulto and senior Alec Tiller. We have seven players that this is their first year; they're very athletic kids, and for four of them this is their first experience in tennis. We've only won one match this year but our losses have all been semi-close. We're a young, inexperienced team, but we're getting better and better every day at practice," he said.

Hannah said senior Lucas Cody came to him as a freshman, and joked that he couldn't walk and chew gum, but is now Pisgah's number one.

"He matured and is working hard as a tennis player," Hannah said.

Numbers two through four are made up of three juniors: Reece Ray (#2), Sergio Escrig (#3) and Armando Basulto (#4).

"My surprise this year is freshman Jake Lowery, who's been very good at the net this year," Hannah said.

Tuscola new to the sport

Johnson recognized the season has been a tough start for the Mounties.

"We've got nine players. Last year, I had eight, and only three players returned. I've got six new players. Of the nine, only one has played more than half a season, so when I said we're new to the sport, I mean we're very new to the sport. My goal is to teach them how to play tennis and they're playing tennis. We've just have to get some experience," he said.

Senior captain Truongan Nguyen and sophomore Teagan Laursen are two of the players Coach Johnson depends on.

"Truongan bring a lot of great energy. He just loves running around and playing tennis. He's our number one, a good hitter and striker. Our other captain, sophomore Teagan Laursen, just loves tennis. He's six-foot five inches and once he figures out that John Isner serve, he'll be ready," Johnson said.

The rivalry continues on Monday, March 28, when Tuscola travels to Pisgah.