Cheney’s Solomon Springberry takes on Medical Lake’s Harrison Cochran on his way to a 6-2, 6-3 win.
The Cheney High School boys’ tennis team had a mixed performance last week, but improved along the way to make for a strong finish, bringing their record to 3-3 for the season.
Their first match against West Valley Tuesday, March 26, turned out to be a difficult one, where the team lost 6-1, similar to a loss against Mt. Spokane the week before. Doubles team Ryan Axtell and Collan Kay scored the only set win of the day, 6-4, 3-6, 5-10 against their opponents.
Overall, doubles teams fared better than singles. They had closer matches and gained some good experience in the process.
“Playing in close matches is good, especially for freshmen,” head coach Jesse Erickson said. “Win or lose, we have to learn something from each match.”
Facing neighboring school Medical Lake the next day, Cheney lost a close 4-3 match.
Among the strong performances that day included Solomon Springberry’s 6-2, 6-3 run against Harrison Cochran. Compared to his match against West Valley, which went 1-6, 2-6, Springberry had a complete turnaround, winning 6-2, 6-3.
“Unlike the day before, he was getting pretty deep,” Erickson said. “He put the other player away with some good volleys.”
Nicholas Brewster also battled back, winning his singles sets 6-3, 7-5.
On doubles against Medical Lake, Jordan Kauwe and Talmadge Dickson defeated their opponents 7-6 (7-1), 6-1. It marked the first time Kauwe was paired with Dickson for a match.
“He actually played really well in his first set with Talmadge,” Erickson said.
Against Lakeside, Cheney found its first win of the week, taking the match by 5-2.
Singles players proved to be on top of their game throughout the day, handily defeating their opponents.
“We really did well on singles,” Erickson said.
Consistency, he said, was the key to the win. It also brought back plenty of confidence for singles players, who had faced some tough competition throughout the week. In the end, it’s the little things that helped propel Cheney to the win.
“We just need to be better prepared for each shot,” Erickson said. “It’s about getting a racket there early enough to get a good shot.”
Cheney is currently on spring break, and will resume play next week.
James Eik can be reached at james@cheneyfreepress.com.
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