Pacer Boys JV Tennis Faces Lakers

The Pacer boys JV tennis team faced the always tough Lake Oswego JV team on Friday April 23^rd at Lakeridge High School.  LO brought 22 of their JV players to face a Pacer squad of 14.  Given the number of matches we would need to get through in order to give all the Lakers a chance to play, the coaches decided to play 6-game sets rather than 8-game pro sets.

First doubles set a positive tone for the Pacers as Matt Stockamp and Jake Lautze cruised to a 6-0 victory.  Joseph Criscione and Houston Tuck also won in convincing fashion at second doubles, 6-3.

The JV match of the day was probably the match at third doubles with Fadi Hameed and David Rohkohl taking on a very tough LO pair comprised of a righty and a lefty.  Fadi and David played very well, but found themselves down 5-2.  The Pacer duo battled back to force a tiebreak.  Unfortunately this was not the Pacers' day for tiebreaks (just ask the varsity squad, they came out on the short end of all three tiebreaks they played).  The Lakers won the tiebreak 7-2 and won the match 7-6.

Kurt Patzkowski and Mark Grothe won a very close match at fourth doubles 7-5.  Kurt played solidly and Mark continues to show great improvement.  Mark's athleticism and winning attitude are tremendous team assets, especially in close matches.

Jack Mayer and Jake Sandor teamed up for a 6-4 win at fifth doubles.  According to the ladder, Jack should have played with Kurt at 4th and Mark should have played with Jake Sandor at fifth, but a coaching error led to the formation of the new teams.  Thanks to the four players who turned my mistake into two wins for the Pacers!

Aaron Hooper and Tom Viggiano teamed up at 6^th doubles to give the Pacers another win on the day.  Aaron's unorthodox style and running dialog along with Tom's indefatigable effort usually prove tough for their opponents to overcome; their 6-4 victory in this match was a case in point.

Seventh doubles paired Michael Easley and Arjun Mehra in another candidate for JV match of the day.  Michael and Arjun battled hard against opponents who were bigger, more powerful, and more experienced.  The Pacer duo got the match to a tiebreak and forced their opponents to battle their nerves in order to pull out a 9-7 tiebreak victory.  Yet another 7-6 victory for the LO tennis team on the day.  (The score in tiebreaks on the day in varsity and JV tennis was LO 5, Lakeridge 0.)

Houston and Joseph teamed up again to face the 8^th doubles team for LO.  The Pacer pair won 6-1. 

Ninth doubles for LO was pitted against Kurt and Mark, in their second match of the day.  Kurt and Mark prevailed by a 6-1 score.

Jake Sandor and David Rohkohl teamed up to battle a surprisingly tough 10^th doubles team for LO.  The Lakers pulled out a 6-4 victory.

Aaron and Tom played again against another talented Laker pair.  In the end not even a rain shower could stop Aaron and Tom from bringing home a victory for the Pacers in the last match of the day:  6-4.

The Lakeridge JV team had 8 wins and 3 losses on the day to continue their successful season.  Thanks to all the players and parents who stayed late in order to ensure that everyone on the LO squad got a chance to compete.