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Wildcats Fall To TA, Rout Staunton
The Rockbridge County High School boys tennis team split a pair of home matches in the final week of the regular season, falling to Valley District rival Turner Ashby 6-3 on Tuesday of last week before cruising to a 9-0 win over Staunton in nondistrict action last Wednesday.
With the win over the Wildcats (10-6 overall, 5-5 district), TA (12-4, 7-3) completed a sweep of the regular-season series. When the teams met on April 12 at TA, the Knights won 5-4.
Going over the rematch, RC head coach Scott Youngdahl said, “Our match against Turner Ashby was so close to being a win.” He noted that, at No. 3 doubles, RC’s Jacob Peart and Barrett Kosmas had three match points in their favor, but they lost 9-7. Also coming up just short were RC’s Gardner Clement at No. 3 singles and Kosmas at No. 6, as well as Gardner Clement and Harrison Tanner at No. 2 doubles, all losing 8-6.
With the win over Staunton (6-5-2), the Wildcats completed a sweep of the regular season series. When the teams met on March 14 at Staunton, RC won 7-2.
In the rematch, Youngdahl said he was “very happy” for Peart, who won 8-6 at No. 6 singles and teamed up with Kosmas to win 8-6 at No. 3 doubles. The Wildcats have no seniors, but Peart is a junior who is graduating early, so it was his last home match.
With his 8-5 win at No. 1 singles, RC junior Nic Vargas finished the regular season with a singles record of 13-3.
Despite the 9-0 team score, Youngdahl said, “Staunton kept a lot of matches close. We had to battle.”
The Wildcats were scheduled to play in the Valley District singles and doubles tournaments yesterday and today, Wednesday, at TA. For the postseason schedule and updates, visit www.thenews-gazette.com.
TA 6, RC 3
SINGLES – Nic Vargas (RC) d. Levi Waidelich (TA) 8-5; Nic Faulds (RC) d. Carter Alley (TA) 8-0; Brandon Puffenbarger (TA) d. Gardner Clement (RC) 8-6; Tucker Bowman (TA) d. Jaxon Johnson (RC) 8-3; John Kello (TA) d. Harrison Tanner (RC) 8-0; Andrew Clark (TA) d. Barrett Kosmas (RC) 8-6.
DOUBLES – Vargas and Faulds (RC) d. Waidelich and Alley (TA) 8-5; Puffenbarger and Bowman (TA) d. Clement and Tanner (RC) 8-6; Kello and Clark (TA) d. Kosmas and Jacob Peart (RC) 9-7.
RC 9, Staunton 0
SINGLES – Vargas (RC) d. Laurel Shelton (S) 8-5; Faulds (RC) d. Jonah Heishman (S) 8-4; Clement (RC) d. Elias Hardy (S) 8-5; Tanner (RC) d. Sawyer Tuttle (S) 8-5; Kosmas (RC) d. Garrett Kane (S) 8-4; Peart (RC) d. August Schwaner (S) 8-6.
DOUBLES – Vargas and Faulds (RC) d. Shelton and Heishman (S) 9-7; Clement and Tanner (RC) d. Hardy and Tuttle (S) 8-3; Kosmas and Peart (RC) d. Schwaner and Landen Baker (S) 8-6.
