02 May 2014

Boys Tennis: Back to .500

Bennett Lagro won at first singles 7-5, 6-0
The Tigers bounced back to the .500 mark (5-5) Friday afternoon with a decisive 7-0 non-conference win at Richfield.

Tiger coach Jack Olwell said it was rewarding post the shutout but he was even more impressed by the way his team played against the Spartans.

"In general we played some awesome tennis," Olwell said. "We had a slugfest at first and second singles and a chess match at fourth singles and first doubles...We are 5-2 in our last seven matches and are hungry for more."

Bennett Lagro had to work overtime to win his first set at No. 1 singles but dominated the second in a 7-5 (5), 6-0 win.

"The tie-breaker was close until Bennett won the last two points on routine errors," Olwell said. "After that it was all Bennett."

Jake Bauer turned in a dominant performance at second singles in winning 6-0, 6-1 and Ivan Rodriguez won in business-like fashion at the third slot, 6-2, 6-3. Jon Zakoski completed the singles sweep with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.

Austin Tremmel and Trent Kortenbusch needed three sets to prevail at first doubles 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (6).

"They saved two match points with some great play at crunch time," Olwell said. "Those two have really upped their game and are playing smart tennis."

The second doubles tandem of Cooper Ericksen and Gavin Renwick made it two wins in as many days with a solid 6-2, 6-1 victory and the third duo of Grady Hauswirth and Jake Spindler combined for a 6-1, 6-4 triumph.

The Tigers are back on the court Monday with a non-conference match at Simley.