In back-to-back matches, the Tigers lived the adage that life is full of peaks and valleys, emerging with a current season record of 4-3 (1-3 in VIC).
On Thursday, the Tigers hosted their final regular season match with a rubber match against New Covenant School (Lynchburg). Unlike normal age-group tournament play, high school matches give players limited exposure to opponents, so matches tend to be reflections of effort in practice and general plans. When teams meet a second time, the tactics change and the tactical adjustments become even more critical. It is interesting to see what happens in the moving train of the high school season as all the players strive to both improve themselves and adjust their games to a specific opponent. Richardson and Troast were force-fit as a doubles team due to Abouzied’s injury (ankle) in singles. Hargrave took the match 9-0 with Coach Roach temporarily filling in for Coach Tung.
On Friday, the Tigers traveled to Roanoke to take on powerhouse North Cross School in their first away match of the season. Under bright and windy conditions and conditions inherent in a road game, the Tigers struggled to develop rhythm. Senior Youssef Abouzied demonstrated the most composure, taking the opponent to the longest and most contested match of the day. In the end, the Raiders proved too much across the ladder, shutting down the Tigers, 0-9.
Combining the two contests, the Men of the Match recognition needed to go to 8th grader Evan Troast (Lighthouse Point, FL) and 10th grader Sebastian Richardson (Charlotte, NC). They stepped up to address the challenges of doubles play and make the adjustments necessary to forge a victory.
The rest of our matches will be on the road after a bye week, starting with a contest on Tuesday, April 24 at the Miller School of Albemarle (Charlottesville).
Individual Match Scores:
Hargrave v. New Covenant School
Singles
#1 – Tyler Morris v Christian Kumar 10-1
#2 – Youssef Abouzied v Logan Duncan 10-5
#3 – David Kiesnowski v Sim Callaway 10-2
#4 – Evan Troast v David Keenan 10-2
#5 – Sebastian Richardson v Nick Toone 10-1
#6 – Sam Wilkerson v Titus Brenning 10-1
Doubles
#1 – Morris and Kiesnowski v Kumar and Callaway 8-1
#2 – Troast and Richardson v Duncan and Keenan 8-6
#3 – Wilkerson and Aidan Steinbach v Toone and Matney 8-2
Hargrave v. North Cross School
Singles
#1 – Tyler Morris v Campbell Bloomfield 0-10
#2 – Youssef Abouzied v Daniel Habib 5-10
#3 – David Kiesnowski v Michael Habib 1-10
#4 – Evan Troast v Grayson Bloomfield 2-10
#5 – Sebastian Richardson v Naalan Jha 2-10
#6 – Sam Wilkerson v Peter Wang 4-10
Doubles
#1 – Morris and Kiesnowski v C. Bloomfield and M. Habib 2-8
#2 – Troast and Wilkerson v Jha and Connor Erwin 1-8
#3 – Walter Thompson and Maddox McCluer v Wang and Ryan Messick 1-8
