Cheney's Mason Van Stone returns a serve from Medical Lake's Noah Ray during a March 17 nonleague match.
The Cheney High boy's tennis team continued to ride their momentum into the first full of week of competition after they won nonleague matches against Greater Spokane League's Ferris, 4-3, March 15, and Northeast A League's Medical Lake, 6-1, March 17.
Against Ferris, Mason Van Stone, No. 1 singles, edged out Blake Hansen (6-2, 2-6, 7-5). Ryan Axtell, No. 2 singles, defeated Nathan Haulman (6-3, 6-2) while Brandon Foster, No. 3 singles, won his match against Zach Utzinger, (7-6, 6-3).
"Mason battled hard against Ferris' No. 1," head coach Jesse Erickson said. "Ryan and Brandon both played solid.
After all three of Cheney's doubles teams fell to the Saxons, the Blackhawks' Shogo Starr, No 4. singles, capped the match point for Cheney by defeating Ferris' Connor Busch, (6-2, 6-7, 10-3).
"Every point in Shogo's match seemed like it was going to last forever," Erickson said. "Ferris was a solid win for us. I'm not sure we've ever beat them. I know we haven't beat them since I've been coaching. They're a powerhouse team."
Against Medical Lake, all of Cheney's singles players won their matches with Van Stone, No. 1 singles, defeating Noah Ray, (6-1, 6-4) and Axtell, No. 2 singles, winning his match against Karson Bailey (6-2, 6-0). Foster, No. 3 singles, shut out Kurtis Kenady (6-0, 6-0), as did Starr, No. 4 singles, who defeated Kyle Hawkins (6-0, 6-0).
"Brandon and Shogo got 6-0, 6-0 scores, you couldn't ask for anything better than that," Erickson said.
The No. 2 doubles team of Hayden Bennett and Aaron Fillmore won the first varsity match of their careers after they defeated Collen Miller and Trevor Nilles (6-2, 6-2).
"It was great to see Hayden and Aaron get their first varsity win," Erickson said. "They're a couple of sophomores who have stepped up and they're communicating well."
Aleksander Chernega and Dirk Ray, at No. 3 doubles, won their first match of the season against Justin Lohr and Nathan McShane (6-2, 6-1).
Cheney (2-0 overall) hosted GSL's Shadle Park, March 23, in a nonleague match - rescheduled from March 22 due to weather conditions. They travel to Lakeside tonight (March 24) to play the NEA Eagles in a nonleague contest. Lakeside began their season with a 4-3 win over Rogers, March 18.
"You couldn't ask for a better start to the season than with two solid wins, but we're going to keep improving with every match," Erickson said. "I'm really impressed with how my guys are doing so far."
Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.
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