With the whole West Ranch boys tennis team watching the final match of the day at West Ranch, senior Davey Woodland felt the emotions running through him as he realized this might be the last team tournament he would play in.
“Coming in here as a freshman you always think about the years to come and you always think, ‘There’s always next year, there’s always next year,’” said Woodland. “It’s almost surreal to think that it’s the last time that we will ever step out on these courts representing the Wildcats.”
Sweeping all three of his singles matches (6-2, 6-0, 6-1) in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs, Woodland’s wins weren’t enough to fuel the Wildcats to a win as they fell to Northwood, 10-8.
Fellow senior Parker McBride also came away with a sweep in his three matches winning 7-6, 6-4, 6-1.
“I felt kind of tight in the first two, but towards the end of the second one I started feeling my game and by the third, I was feeling it.”
On the doubles side, seniors Aristo Turalakay and Jake Anderson pulled out the only two wins for the Wildcats on the day winning two of their three sets 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
“We had some really tight sets,” said Wildcats’ head coach Eric Spiecker about the doubles matches. “The ball really didn’t bounce our way as much as we wanted it to, but I’m really proud of how we battled and played tough.”
Finishing the season as the No. 1 Foothill League team the Wildcats lose singles players Woodland, McBride, and doubles partners Aristo and Jake to graduation, but coach Spiecker couldn’t help but praise how his team played on the year.
“It’s been a great season. In league we were strong I’m really proud of continuing the streak of league championships,” Spiecker said. “I think if you ask any of the kids, it’s a match we want to win today. We just didn’t start as strong as we wanted to and if we did we probably would have been on our way playing Arcadia on Friday.”
Long Beach Poly 12, Hart 6
Hart boys tennis fell to Long Beach Poly in the first round of Division 3 playoffs. The No. 1 singles player, Jax Liescheidt won two of his three matches: 3-6, 7-6, 6-3. While No. 1 doubles partners, Daniel LaForteza and Jeremy Killian also won two out of three: 3-6, 6-4, 7-6.
