The Hargrave Tigers Tennis squad took to the Landon Tennis Center for an conference matchup with New Covenant on Monday afternoon! Below is a recap from Head Coach, Jim Tung:
The Hargrave Tigers fought to stay grounded against the New Covenant Schools Gryphon squad at the Landon Tennis Center in Chatham, VA. The team match was decided at the end of the singles phase with a score of 1-5 but both teams continued to battle it out in the doubles phase. The Tigers drop to 1-2 in BRAC play. They will hit the road to take on VES in Lynchburg, VA at 4:30 pm on April 5, 2023.
Brady Ball (Sophomore, Raleigh, NC) continued to roll with a workmanlike 8-3 win to move to 3-0 at the #2 singles position.
Jack Pittman (Sophomore, Carmel, IN) and Ball faced off against their singles opponents in the doubles format and were able to secure an 8-6 win at the #1 Doubles position.
Summary of Individual Match Scores:
Singles
#1 – Jack Pittman v Graham Kowalski L 2-8
#2 – Brady Ball v Nicholas Richmond W 8-3
#3 – Patrick Souza v Nick Gieszcykiewicz L 1-8
#4 – Josh McGrail v Joseph Robert L 8-8 (3-7)
#5 – Thomas Whitmire v Will Kitrall L 5-8
#6 – Tahir Thomas v Douglas Powell L 0-8
Doubles
#1 – Pittman and Ball vs Kowalski and Richmond W 8-6
#2 – Souza and McGrail v Gieszcykiewicz and Robert L 6-8
#3 – Zachary Lu and Carson Pan v Kitrall and Kitrall L 3-8
Behind the scoreboard victories:
Jack Pittman (Sophomore, Carmel, IN) was unable to formulate a defense to Gryphon Graham Kowalski service game and his confidence suffered. After starting strong where both men held serve, Kowalski broke Pittman’s serve to go up 1-2 and the pressure didn’t let up.
The rest of the ladder was placed in a tough position by the absence of 3 teammates. Patrick Souza (sophomore, Halifax, VA) slid up to the #3 singles position. Joshua McGrail (sophomore, Marshfield, MA) had a match of 3 tales. He and Joseph Robert battled to 3-4 before the light clicked and McGrail ground out a 7-4 lead to reach the cusp of the match’s end. Then it was Robert’s turn to adjust and pressure McGrail to an 8-8 tie and then tip the match into the loss column for the Tigers. At #5 singles, Thomas Whitmire (Wasilla, AK) fought from behind to tie up the score at 5-5 before Will Kittrall took advantage of a series of double-faults to break Whitmire’s serve and grind out a 5-8 victory for the Gryphon. Rounding out the singles ladder, #6 Tahir Thomas (8th grade, South Orange, NJ), while determined enough to bring games to deuce, was unable to generate points at the right time to move the game marker in his match.
At #3 doubles, Zachery Lu and Carson Pan continued their partnership and were able to see the results of hard work to put up a respectable 3-8 effort. At #2 doubles, Souza and McGrail started the process of learning to lean on a new doubles partner. At a very deliberate pace, they ratcheted the score up to 6-6. After a service break and hold, New Covenant took the victory, 6-8.
Hargrave Men of the Match recognition goes to the doubles teams of Pittman/Ball and Souza/McGrail for their demonstration of one or more of our Core Values. Each member of the doubles team had a significant personal setback in the singles ladder. They persisted, sought perspective, and set aside the factors that could undermine their confidence to post very competitive performances.
