As a result of intrasquad ladder challenges, a reshuffled Tiger line-up debuted at Fishburne Military Caissons’ season opener on 3 April 2012. The Tigers were able to grind out a victory.
In Singles play, #1 and #2 singles matchups saw Frankie Chang fall to a very strong opponent while Michael Liu suffered a similar fate in his contest on Fishburne’s two upper courts. Across campus on the two lower courts, the contest tilted slowly back towards Hargrave as #3 singles Yiwen Zhang and #4 singles Turner Wall battled for nearly 60 minutes with their own opponents through several deuce points and service breaks to eventually emerge victorious 10-7 and 10-6, respectively. Meanwhile, back on the upper courts, #5 singles Rafi Tudela and #6 singles Nabeel Barqawi began their contests. Tudela worked hard to put up a 10-4 final score, going to deuce several times against Watson. Barqawi and Harper’s battle was similarly hard fought affair. Players from each team were encouraged by cadets from both Hargrave and Fishburne.
With the team score 4-2, doubles play began with the match outcome still uncertain. Hongbo Hu entered the court for the first time of the day to pair up with Chang while Thompson was joined by FMS newcomer Gray at #1 doubles. They were able to hold their own for awhile before falling eventually 2-8. Liu and Tudela also fell to FMS’s #2 doubles duo in a match characterized by some long and furious rallies and net play. Determining the match outcome thus fell to the team of Barqawi and Wall. They were able to complement each other’s style and work together to put up a final score of 8-4, securing a win for Hargrave as evening fell over the courts.
Chase Cooper, Wei An Chan, and Zhang saw exhibition play. Time and light ran out for exhibition matches for Ji, Wang, and T. Rose. Miles Pilkington is expected to return to play next week.
With the win, the Varsity Tennis team improves to 1-3 in VIC play. Varsity Tennis next take on Miller School at home on Thursday, April 5th and travel to Carlisle on Tuesday, April 10th after the Easter weekend.
Match Results against FMS, 4/3/12. Match scores follow the L or W in the parenthesis.
#1 Singles – Frankie Chang v M. Thompson (L 0-10)
#2 Singles – Michael Liu v P. Dwyer (L 0-10)
#3 Singles – Yiwen Zhang v A. Anderson (W 10-7)
#4 Singles – Turner Wall v S. Davies (W 10-6)
#5 Singles – Rafi Tudela v P. Watson (W 10-4)
#6 Singles – Nabeel Barqawi v A. Harper (W 10-2)
#1 Doubles – Chang/Hongbo Hu v Thompson/Gray (L 2-8)
#2 Doubles – Liu/Tudela v Davies/Dwyer (L 2-8)
#3 Doubles – Barqawi/Wall v Anderson/Harper (W 8-4)
#2 Doubles – Liu/Tudela v Davies/Dwyer (L 2-8)
#3 Doubles – Barqawi/Wall v Anderson/Harper (W 8-4)
Exhibition Play:
Zhang/Wei An Chan in doubles play (W 8-5)
