FREMONT – There’s nothing quite like a plan working to perfection.
Facing a tough opponent in nearby rival Clyde, the Fremont Ross boys tennis team circled the Nos. 2 and 3 singles and No. 2 double as potentially winnable flights.
Sure enough, the Little Giants came through.
Alex Thatcher and Sam Long scored valuable wins in singles play while the newly-constructed doubles team of Lucas Cronin and Drew Miller picked up the doubles win needed to secure a 3-2 victory over the Fliers.
“I was hoping for a 2-3 singles win and a 2 doubs win, that’s exactly what happened,” Ross coach Lisa Wolfe said. “It was a tight match. That’s great for them, because this is an experienced bunch (from Clyde).”
Thatcher won at No. 2 singles by a score of 6-0, 6-1 while Long won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 singles. Wolfe then paired the experienced Cronin with Miller, the rookie whose impressed with his abilities to learn on the fly. The duo meshed together out well, winning 6-0, 6-2.
The No. 1 doubles pairing of Trevor Weickert and Ethan Moyer took their match to the distance before losing in a third-set tiebreak, 7-6, (4), 6-7 (3), 9-11
Wolfe said she was pleased to see the Little Giants make the most of their unique home-court advantage which reared its breezy head Wednesday.
“I think we’re used to the wind,” Wolfe said. “We don’t want to blame wind for good things or bad things, but we’re so used to the wind and I’m not sure there are a lot of teams that are used to this kind of wind, having to keep balls low, serving low, everything has to be tight on the net. We were not doing any lobs today.”
Wednesday’s win is Ross’ fifth in a row as the Little Giants improve to 5-1, but Wolfe isn’t holding her breath for the streak continuing to six as Ross hosts TRAC power St. John’s Thursday.
“We’re going to take a free lesson with St. John’s,” Wolfe said. “I actually do have good expectations of No. 2 doubles, for Travis and Ethan, as we’ll go back to our TRAC lineup. From what I’m seeing, I’m thinking they can handle St. John’s No. 2 doubles, but we’ll see.”
Fremont Ross 3, Clyde 2
No. 1 singles: Lukas Cziesla (C) def. Nils Nolte, 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 singles: Alex Thatcher (FR) def. Daniel Stevens, 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 singles: Sam Long (FR) def. AlexKauble, 6-2, 6-0
No. 1 doubles: Noah Prunty/Jacob Strudthoff (C) def. Trevor Weickert/Ethan Moyer, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 11-9
No. 2 doubles: Lucas Cronin/Drew Miller (FR) def. David Hohenstein/Ethan Keegan, 6-0, 6-2