Kyle Martin prepares to serve the ball (KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings).
After coming away with a victory in their season opening match against Century, the McNary boys tennis team came out flat in their return to the court on Monday as they fell to The Dalles 7-1.
All seven match losses came by straight sets.
“We’re still very inexperienced,” McNary head coach Marc McAvoy said. “It might take a while to build some of these guys up.
“The good thing is that we are improving.”
The Celtics lone victory of the afternoon came from Luke Skipper in the #2 singles match.
Skipper lost the first set 5-7, but came back strong to win the final two sets 6-3, 6-2.
“Luke is one of the most mentally tough players I’ve ever coached,” McAvoy said. “He is really smart about ball placement and reading what the other guy is going to do.”
“He’ll make a couple bad shots, but he is mentally able to push it out of his mind and focus on the next thing and that’s how he’s able to be successful.”
Adam Graneto fought back in the second set, but wound up losing the #1 singles match against Andy Lopez 6-1, 6-3.
Tony Pisan could only salvage two games as he fell in #3 singles 6-1, 6-1.
On the doubles side, the #1 McNary duo of Noah Kuhl and Colin Vasas put up a fight, but lost against James Pashek and Quinn Wilson by a score of 6-3, 6-3.
Grant Goesch and Jaden Rhines provided the only other competitive match of the meet in #3 doubles — they were defeated 6-3, 6-2.
