March 24, 2025 – With a roster impacted by Spring Break, the Varsity Tiger Tennis reached deep to knock off the rust and come out ahead of Galileo Magnet High School (Danville, VA). The support of the faculty and staff from both schools was well-appreciated. All the players acquitted themselves with dignity, integrity, and displays of good sportsmanship. The final team score was 8-1 Hargrave.
At the end of the doubles phase, there was some drama with the Tigers up 2-1, but with a loss at the 1st Doubles slot. One of those easy-to-say directions is “put the last game behind you and play the next point” but it’s also deceptively difficult to execute. The Falcons duo of Senior Usman Ali and Junior Thomas Hungarland was able to capitalize on some post-break tentativeness and the unfamiliarity of Brady Ball (Senior, Raleigh, NC) and David Mathurin (Freshman, Staten Island, NY) with each other. Doubles is not supposed to be two individuals covering the court, but it’s easy to degenerate to that level with communications and confidence challenges. Mathurin settled down and was able to post a 8-0 singles result.
Ball was lined up against Ali in the singles phase and the subsequent match was the longest of the afternoon. With both opponents contesting almost every point and both controlling mistakes, the games were tight until Ball took a lead with a service break and hold, making the set 6-4. Ali broke and held himself to make the score 6-all. The battle for every point continued but with another service break and hold, this time in Ball’s favor, the match ended 8-6.
The Hargrave Tigers Varsity Tennis team moves to 2-1 with this win. They will take to the road on Wednesday against traditional powerhouse Covenant School (Charlottesville) at 4 pm at Pen Park. They will end the week with a home match against Miller School of Albemarle (Charlottesville). For those that want to catch a tennis match on Wednesday, the JV Tiger Tennis will play in their home BRAC opener against traditional powerhouse Covenant School (Charlottesville) on March 26 at 4:30 pm.
Doubles Match Scores
- Ball & Mathurin vs. Ali & Hungarland L 1-8
- Pittman & Ricks vs. LaRoss & Able W 8-0
- Pino & Scott vs. Gao & Mathias Cardenas W 8-0
Singles Match Scores
- Brady Ball (Senior, Raleigh, NC) vs. Usman Ali (Sr) W 8-6
- Jack Pittman (Senior, Zionsville, IN) vs. Thomas Hungarland (Jr) W 8-0
- Isaac Wadsworth (Junior, San Antonio, FL) vs. Brandon LaRoss (So) W 8-0
- David Mathurin (Freshman, Staten Island, NY) vs. Raymond Gao (So) W 8-0
- Jackson Pino (Senior, Fayetteville, WV) vs. Isaiah Able (So) W 8-0
- CJ Scott (Junior, Harrisburg, NC)) vs. Jae’Kavion Jones (So) W 8-0
Additional Exhibition Matches
Two Falcons were able to play exhibition matches in a shortened format while the doubles phase occurred. Several Tigers participated in this set of development matchups. Noah Oakes (7th grade, Dry Fork, VA) and Brandon Hyon (8th grade, Devon, PA) gained some experience in singles. Charles Butt (Sophomore, Forest, VA), Luca DiBartolo (7th grade, Dry Fork, VA), and Dylan Herrera (Freshman, Marco Island, FL) created a “mixed doubles” doubles match-up with a novice Falcon. With some time left, Xavier Washington (6th grade, Chatham, VA), Cyrus Lawrence (Junior, Silver Spring, MD), and Andy Li (Freshman, Lynch Station, VA) also were able to get in part of a subsequent “mixed doubles” doubles match-up with a novice Falcon. Exhibition matches are important for both providing good experience with fresh opponents and partners, but also part of “building the game” wherein the lifelong sport of tennis gives players opportunities to constantly meet new opponents and partners.
