The Rockbridge County High School boys tennis team defeated Staunton on Thursday, prevailing 5-4 in a match suspended by darkness on March 20 before winning the second match 6-3.
With the victories, the Wildcats improved to 5-3, while the Storm fell to 3-5, both overall and in the district.
When the first match with Staunton was suspended on March 20, it was tied at 4-4, and RC senior Tyler Watson was trailing 8-7 to Staunton’s Paxton Gasser at No. 4 singles. On Thursday, Watson came back to tie the match at 8-8 and then won the tiebreak 7-3. Other RC singles winners in the first match with Staunton were Joe Vargas at No. 1, Jaxon Johnson at No. 2 and Rachit Yakkanti at No. 6. Vargas and Johnson teamed up to win at No. 1 doubles.
In the second match, the Storm swept the doubles matches, but the Wildcats won all six singles matches.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play host to Riverheads on Monday and will continue district action at Fort Defiance on Thursday before playing host to Waynesboro on Monday, with both matches scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
RC 5, Staunton 4
SINGLES – Vargas (RC) d. Garrett Kane (S) 8-2; Johnson (RC) d. Brooks Hansen (S) 8-6; Sam Graves (S) d. Fafatas (RC) 8-4; Mason Shreckhise (S) d. Elliott Allen (RC) 8-1; Tyler Watson (RC) d. Paxton Gasser (S) 9-8 (7-3 tiebreak); Rachit Yakkanti (RC) d. Justin Gao (S) 8-1.
DOUBLES – Vargas and Johnson (RC) d. Kane and Hansen (S) 8-3; Graves and Gasser (S) d. Fafatas and Watson (RC) 8-6; Shreckhise and Gao (S) d. Allen and Yakkanti (RC) 8-6.
RC 6, Staunton 3
SINGLES – Vargas (RC) d. Hansen (S) 8-6; Johnson (RC) d. Kane (S) 8-4; Fafatas (RC) d. Hunter Stumpf (S) 8-2; Watson (RC) d. Gasser (S) 9-7; Yakkanti (RC) d. Graves (S) 8-5; Allen (RC) d. Gao (S) 9-7.
DOUBLES – Kane and Jonah Heishman (S) d. Vargas and Fafatas (RC) 8-4; Hansen and Stumpf (S) d. Johnson and Watson (RC) 8-6; Gasser and Graves (S) d. Yakkanti and Jacob Barney (RC) 8-1.
