Thane Peterson, playing singles for the first time, won Wednesday to help propel Coupeville tennis to its first team victory this season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Can’t stop them when they have all their guys.
Playing with a complete varsity lineup for the first time this season, the Coupeville High School boys tennis team bounced The Bush School 3-2 Wednesday, notching its first team win of the season.
With the road victory, the Wolves improve to 1-3 in Emerald City League play, and now head home to host Overlake Friday afternoon.
Play starts at 3:30 PM.
Coupeville was down a man through its first three matches, and had to forfeit #2 singles each time out.
That changed in a big way Wednesday, as Miles Davidson, having reached the magical number of practices, made his season debut.
With the sophomore teaming up with Koby Schreiber to play #3 doubles, Thane Peterson went solo, playing singles for the first time in his prep career.
And he made quite the auspicious debut, rolling to a 7-5, 6-1 win which proved to be vitally important to the team cause.
It was a performance which made longtime CHS tennis guru Ken Stange do a little dance.
“I was very proud of Thane,” the Wolf coach said. “He was a bit nervous, but we discussed playing one point at a time, as opposed to looking at the match as a single entity.
“Breaking it down to just playing points allows a player to shed some nerves. It makes it more like practice,” Stange added. “After a close first set, I gave him a few tips. He put them into play and romped in the second set.”
Coupeville also got big wins at #1 singles (Drake Borden) and #1 doubles (James Wood/Mason Grove) to seal the deal on the conference win.
It was the second victory this season for the Wolf tandem, and the first for Borden, who has had to face a murderer’s row of sluggers at the top of the roster in the state’s toughest 1A tennis league.
“Mason and James were outstanding,” Stange said. “They too played a close first set before blowing the doors off in the second.
“They hit with easy power and were able to find the proper angles.”
Borden, who worked extensively on his game in the off-season, has been highly-competitive in his matches, while facing tournament-tested pros, but Wednesday it all came together as he won a three-set thriller.
“Drake muddled through the first set,” Stange said. “He was playing someone he knew he could beat, but he was tense. He took a few deep breaths, released some muscle tension, and proceeded to play a dominant second set.
“He built a commanding lead in the third set tiebreaker before coughing up a few points to make things close,” he added. “When it came down to crunch time, Drake picked up the match point, the individual win, and clinched the team win.
“All in all, it was a good day.”
Complete Wednesday results:
1st Singles — Drake Borden beat Quinn Chow 4-6, 6-2, 10-8
2nd Singles — Thane Peterson beat Arman Bali 7-5, 6-1
1st Doubles — James Wood/Mason Grove beat Griffin Murch/Anselm Aguerra 7-6(7-3), 6-2
2nd Doubles — Zach Ginnings/Andrew Aparicio lost to Dominic Lizardi/Drew Groel 6-2, 6-2
3rd Doubles — Miles Davidson/Koby Schreiber lost to Parker Holloway/David Nagai 6-2, 6-2
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