Singles, Doubles Runs Also Conclude For Wildcats
Facing Valley District rival Turner Ashby for the third time this season, the Rockbridge County High School boys tennis team suffered a 5-3 road loss in the Region 3C quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon in Bridgewater.
A day earlier, RC senior Nic Vargas ended his run in the Region 3C singles finals at Broadway, and Vargas and senior teammate Nic Faulds lost in the regional doubles semifinals.
The match against TA (14-3 overall, 9-3 district), was another tight showdown, after the Wildcats (12-5, 9-3) had split a pair of 5-4 contests with the Knights during the regular season.
The original plan was to play on Friday, but a forecast of rain moved the match up to Thursday. The Wildcats got an offer to play on Friday at Washington and Lee University’s indoor courts in Lexington, but the Knights preferred to have the match at their own courts on Thursday, and it made a difference. “Quite a few kids came out to cheer them on,” said RC head coach Scott Youngdahl.
The Wildcats won their first two singles matches, with Vargas earning a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 1 and Faulds winning 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2. RC senior Gardner Clement lost at No. 3, and RC freshman Joe Vargas lost 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4.
At No. 5, junior Jaxon Johnson picked up a 6-4, 6-3 win for the Wildcats. “He held his serve when he had to and started hitting through his serve,” said Youngdahl.
Senior teammate Sam Ballstaedt lost 6-0, 6-4 at No. 6, and the match was tied 3-3.
Due to rain, the doubles matches were moved to the Bridgewater College indoor courts.
RC’s No. 2 doubles team lost, with the No. 3 team winning the first set 6-1 before losing the second set 7-6 and dropping the third-set tiebreak 10-7. Faulds and Nic Vargas did not finish their match at No. 1 doubles because TA had earned the five wins to clinch the team victory.
Complete scores from the match were not provided.
Youngdahl said it was a tough ending for the Wildcats because they were playing a team with players that dink their second serves. “They just pop it over the net,” he said. “It just drives me crazy that we cannot beat a team that plays like that.”
In the singles tournament, after winning the Valley District title the week before, Nic Vargas won his quarterfinal match 6-2, 6-3 against his opponent from Brookville on Tuesday of last week. He then faced Staunton’s Laurel Shelton, whom he’d suffered two 8-4 regular-season losses to, and won 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinals. In the finals last Wednesday, facing Western Albemarle’s top player, who served up to 120 miles per hour, Vargas took a couple of games to deuce, but he lost 6-0, 6-0. “Nic didn’t play badly,” said Youngdahl.
In the doubles tournament, Faulds and Nic Vargas, who were coming off their second consecutive Valley District doubles title, defeated Liberty Christian Academy’s top duo 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. They then lost 6-3, 6-3 to Monticello’s top duo in the semifinals, struggling against their opponents’ strong first serves. “Monticello played very well,” said Youngdahl, who noted that the match would’ve been a lot closer, but the teams played with no advantages, meaning the point after deuce won each game. Monticello would fall to Western Albemarle’s top pair 6-2, 6-1 in the doubles finals.
Nic Vargas completed an impressive season, going 11-1 in his district singles matches, while he and Faulds went 11-1 in their district doubles matches.
As a team, the Wildcats improved from last season, when they went 10-7 overall and 5-5 in the district, falling 6-0 at LCA in the Region 3C quarterfinals. This year, the Wildcats earned a postseason win this year when they beat 12th-seeded Wilson Memorial 5-1 in the first round of the Region 3C tournament on May 23 at the Southern Virginia University courts in Buena Vista.
The Wildcats will miss their four seniors: Faulds, Clement, Ballstaedt and Nic Vargas. All of them were returning players, except for Ballstaedt, a basketball player who decided to try out tennis this year. “Everything you want in a teammate is in Sam Ballstaedt,” said Youngdahl.
Completing his second year as RC’s head coach, Youngdahl said he was happy with the new members the Wildcats added to the team, and he looks forward to working with them in the future.
Youngdahl was also glad to work with assistant coach Brian Barney again. “He’s the heart and soul of the team,” said Youngdahl. “He gives and gives. I’m so indebted to him.”
