Individual tennis tourney held in Murfreesboro
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The Pioneer tennis teams finally saw action Wednesday with three singles and one doubles match being played.
In the first match of the day for Warren County, Doug Roberts who was seeded No. 3 took on White County’s Jason Ryder. Roberts went too quickly as he won the first set 6-2 and finished off Ryder in the second 6-3. Roberts advanced to take on Alex Ingle of Oakland after a three hour delay due to the lack of court space at the Murfreesboro Racquet Club. Roberts was upset by the unseeded Ingle in two sets, falling 6-1, 6-0.
“Doug played a solid first match and did a great job today. This was the first time he had ever played indoors and he adjusted to it very well. In his second match against Ingle he just ran into a kid that was playing at the top of his game,” said coach David Dunlap.
Karlee Holcomb hit the court for the Lady Pioneers against Emily Jacobs of Lebanon. Holcomb lost the first set 6-1 but soon settled down and played a solid second set against a very polished player. Holcomb tied the second set at 3-3 but Jacobs won the next three games to take the 6-3 win over Holcomb.
“Karlee gave a great effort today. She was a little nervous in the first set and it took her awhile to settle down. But she never gave up or got down on herself and just did an excellent job.”
Cameron Gonder played the next singles match for the Pioneers. Gonder faced a tough player in Oakland’s Zack Jones who took the match in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.
“Cameron just never relaxed today. He’s a much better player than what the score shows. He kept hitting good shots through out the match and never gave up.”
Julia Fisher took on Stacey Rogers of Sparta at the McMinnville Civic Center indoor court after a mis-communication on her playing time early in the day. Fisher fell 6-0,6-0.
With pressure to get the doubles matches started, the doubles event moved to the Old Stone Fort courts as the sun peeked through the clouds.
After a six hour delay the Pioneer team of Jacob Wilson and Travis Powers hit the court as the No. 3 seed against Vossel and Rader of Cookeville. Powers and Wilson lost the first game of the first set and then won six straight games to take the set 6-1. Powers and Wilson may have let their guard down in the second set, as several mental mistakes gave the team of Vossel and Rader the second set 6-0. Down 4-2 in the third set Powers and Wilson pulled together and showed why they had earned the No. 3 spot in the tournament. They took the next four games to win the set at 6-4 for the victory.
With a 30 minute rest Powers and Wilson moved on to play D. J. Farris and Andrew Cotten of Lebanon. Farris and Cotten defeated Cannon and Brady of Sparta early in the day 6-1, 6-2.
In the first set Powers and Wilson lost the first game but rebounded to take the second to tie the set at 1-1. But the Blue Devils would take the next five games to win the first set 6-1.
Powers and Wilson had a little meeting before the second set and came out on fire winning the second set 6-0. In the third and final set Powers and Wilson lost the first two games. The duo kept their composure and quickly took the next four games. Lebanon won the seventh game of the set as they trailed 4-3. At 30-30 in the next game rain begin to fall as play was stopped. Wanting to finish the match the two teams moved back to the Racquet Club as play resumed at 8:45 p.m. Not missing a beat Powers and Wilson won the next two games to take the match 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 as they advanced to the semi-final round.
“Doug and Jacob gave 100% today. They had to set around and wait all day before they ever hit the court. They got behind a couple of times today but kept fighting and never let it get them down. I’m so proud of how hard they played, it was just a great thing to watch.”
The Lady Pioneers were scheduled to play two doubles matches on Thursday with April Kirby and Mary Beth Gribble taking on Ito and Murray of Riverdale, Kristen Sharpe and Elisha Ray were to take on Ingle and Aiken of Oakland. For the boys team Artie Fisher and Tyler Boyd were to take on Price and Armstrong of Lebanon.