Clackamas Boys Tennis Visits Lakeridge

The Pacer boys tennis team battled Clackamas on Wednesday April 14^th at Lakeridge.  The matches started under sunny skies and warm temperatures, but by the time the JV squad got on court an approaching storm threatened to bring a halt to the competition.  All the matches were completed, but by the time the Clackamas bus pulled away heavy rain had begun to fall.

Clackamas' brothers Yamaguchi (Tyler and Collin) started out the competition with a tenacity and ferocity that knocked Lakeridge's first and second singles players on their heels.  Ben Brewer and Michael Chen each made recoveries and made their second sets very close contests but neither was able to force a third set.  Brewer lost 2-6, 5-7 and Chen lost 3-6, 6-7 (6).  But those were to be the only losses for Lakeridge on the day.

At third singles, Ben Silbert out lasted a very steady Clackamas player; Ben won 6-4, 6-2.  After the match the Clackamas coach said he thought one key rally, that Silber won, lasted 50 strokes or more.

Chris Deal, the Pacers' fourth singles player, won fairly handily in the first set, but had to fend off a fierce battle by his opponent in the second set.  The final tally was 6-2, 6-4.

In doubles, Jackson Grove and Zach Calo cruised to a 6-0 first set win, but then things got tricky.  Either the Pacer pair had a letdown or the Cavalier duo got inspired - or both.  The result was a 6-3 win for Clackamas in set number two.  The third set looked to be an easy win for Lakeridge, but the Cavs fought back from a 5-2 deficit to get back on-serve at 4-5.  Jackson and Zach broke Clackamas in the final game to seal the win by the score of 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.

Samir Kadkade and Evan Brown had a much easier time with their opponents.  The Pacers' second doubles team dispatched the Cav pair 6-1, 6-0.

Playing third doubles for Lakeridge was the dynamic pair of Sam Manning and Chris Hamilton.  Sam and Chris played their usual aggressive style and made quick work of the Cavs:  6-2, 6-2.

Eric Roessler and Charlie Kachel were a bit sluggish in the first set.  The Clackamas pair served for the first set at 5-4.  That scare must have helped wake the Pacers up.  Eric and Charlie reeled off the next 8 games to win 7-5, 6-0.

Final score:  Lakeridge 6, Clackamas 2.

Clackamas brought 17 JV players to face the Pacers squad of 14 on the day.  A few Pacer players got two matches in, as did one of the Cavs.  Some of the last matches of the day were played as regular sets rather than 8-game pro sets so they could be completed before the rain came.

Charlie Layton and Matt Stockamp played smart and steady and were able to neutralize very strong net play from the Cavs and post an 8-6 victory.

Most of the rest of the matches were pretty one-sided affairs in favor of Lakeridge:

• Jake Lautze and Tommy Deal won 8-1
• Joseph Criscione and Houston Tuck won 8-2
• Fadi Hameed and Jack Mayer won 8-3
• Kurt Patzkowski and Jake Sandor won 8-1
• Mark Grothe and Michael Easley won 6-0
• Tom Viggiano and Arjun Mehra won 8-1
• Kurt Patzkowski and Michael Easley won 6-1

The final JV match may have been the match of the day.  Jake Sandor and Mark Grothe teamed up to play a 6-game set against a tenacious Cav pair.  The match was very closely contested and the sprinkles of rain that threatened to turn into a cloudburst at any moment only added to the drama.  At a score of 4-all, the coaches decided that should the score reach 5-all, the teams would play a tiebreak to decide the match. 

With Clackamas serving at 5-4 the Pacers fought off two match points to force the deciding tiebreak.  Jake and Mark stormed out to a 5-2 lead in the breaker before Clackamas got going.  The Pacers eventually had to fight off another match point or two for the Cavs before posting a 9-7 victory.

By the time all 29 Clackamas players had boarded their bus, the skies opened up and the threat of heavy rain became a reality.