Wildcats Fall To Spotswood, Defeat LB
In a pair of home matches, the Rockbridge County High School boys tennis team fell to Valley District rival Spotswood 7-2 on Tuesday of last week before bouncing back with a 7-2 nondistrict win over Lord Botetourt last Wednesday.
Against Spotswood, the Wildcats (3-1 overall, 1-1 district) suffered their first loss of the season. “They are a very deep, talented team, so we knew we were going to have our hands full,” said RC head coach Scott Youngdahl.
The bright spots for RC were at the No. 1 singles and doubles spots. RC’s Nic Vargas pulled through with an 8-6 win over Nate Lees at the top singles spot, and he teamed up with Nic Faulds to overcome Lees and Ryland Wade 9-7 at No. 1 doubles.
The Wildcats also played a tight match at No. 2 doubles, where Gardner Clement and Jaxon Johnson lost 8-6.
With the win over Lord Botetourt the next day, the Wildcats completed a sweep of the regular-season series. When the teams met in the season opener on March 19 at LB, RC pulled out a 5-4 victory.
In the rematch, the Wildcats set the tone at the Lexington Country Club courts by sweeping the doubles matches, which they played before the singles matches. Faulds and Nic Vargas teamed up for an 8-3 win at No. 1, avenging their March 19 loss. Clement and Johnson captured an 8-5 victory at No. 2, and Joe Vargas and Sam Ballstaedt earned an 8-5 win at No. 3.
In singles, the Wildcats won four of six matches. LB freshman standout Ethan Steryous beat Nic Vargas at No. 2, but Faulds earned an 8-3 win at No. 2 over Davis Kidd to avenge a previous loss. Also winning in singles for the Wildcats were Clement at No. 3, Joe Vargas at No. 4, and Johnson at No. 5.
Youngahl was pleased with how his team played against a challenging opponent. “They’re pretty talented,” he said of the Cavaliers. “We just started clicking on all cylinders.”
The Wildcats were scheduled to play at East Rockingham on Monday before playing host to Harrisonburg yesterday. They’ll start next week with a pair of road matches, a nondistrict contest at Staunton on Monday before returning to district action against Turner Ashby on Tuesday. They’ll play host to Staunton next Wednesday, April 23, before a home match against district rival Rocktown on Friday at the Lexington Country Club courts. All matches are scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.
Spotswood 7, RC 2
SINGLES – N. Vargas (RC) d. Nate Lees (S) 8-6; Ryland Wade (S) d. Faulds (RC) 8-4; Drew Wiley (S) d. Clement (RC) 8-2; Jackson Graves (S) d. Johnson (RC) 8-4; Mateo Mousa (S) d. Ballstaedt (RC) 8-0; Cam Langridge (S) d. Elliott Allen (RC) 8-0.
DOUBLES – N. Vargas and Faulds (RC) d. Lees and Wade (S) 9-7; Wiley and Graves (S) d. Clement and Johnson (RC) 8-6; Parker Langridge and Reece Gardner (S) d. Ballstaedt and Theo Martini (RC) 8-1.
RC 7, LB 2
SINGLES – Ethan Steryous (LB) d. Nic Vargas (RC) 8-2; Nic Faulds (RC) d. Davis Kidd (LB) 8-3; Gardner Clement (RC) d. Chase Dozier (LB) 8-4; Joe Vargas (RC) d. Tyler McCarren (LB) 8-4; Jaxon Johnson (RC) d. Ryan Dominisac (LB) 8-6; Payten Arnold (LB) d. Sam Ballsteadt (RC) 8-4. DOUBLES – N. Vargas and Faulds (RC) d. Steryous and Kidd (LB) 8-3; Clement and Johnson (RC) d. Dozier and McCarren (LB) 8-5; J. Vargas and Ballstaedt (RC) d. Arnold and Michael Yamatani (LB) 8-5.
