The Lakeside Rams tennis teams hosted a 5A South tri-meet on Tuesday and served up a pair of one-sided defeats to the visiting Hot Springs Trojans and White Hall Bulldogs at the Lakeside Athletic Complex.
The Rams took six of seven matches over their cross-town rivals from Hot Springs, with only the Trojans’ Bobby Rouse using his unorthodox style to pull off a 5-8 upset of Wyatt McBride in the No. 2 boys doubles matchup.
Because of lingering concerns about the heat, the matches were pushed back from their usual 3 p.m. start to 5 p.m. They were also limited to a single eight-game pro set rather than the usual best-of-three format with six-game sets.
“We lost to Lakeside, winning only one of seven matches. We split with White Hall, winning four of eight,” Trojans coach Geofrey Hedrick said. “That’s (Rouse’s) second singles win this year. I don’t think he won that many last year.
“He’s a very unorthodox player, but it’s good as long as he’s winning.”
Otherwise, it was all Rams on the evening as Isabella Altamirano defeated Gabriella Cowan 8-2 and ZuZu Cangelosi topped Deeya Mulloy 8-0 in the girls No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches. Ruthie LaDuke and Claire Clevland took an 8-1 win over Hot Springs’ Hilda Yanes and Savannath Randall in the lone girls doubles matches between the two rivals.
In the boys head-to-head with Hot Springs, Lakeside senior Aaron Davenport spotted Hot Springs’ Wyatt Cowan a 3-0 lead in the No. 1 boys singles match before coming back to take an 8-3 decision in what was the most anticipated matchup of the day.
“White Hall went as anticipated. We even won an additional match that we weren’t expecting to win. With Lakeside, however, things didn’t quite go our way,” Hedrick said. “We had a lead in our number one boys. It was a significant lead but he just lost focus and (Davenport) came back and beat him.”
Other than Rouse’s upset in the No. 2 boys match, Lakeside won the day over Hot Springs when Max Erskine and Anthony Isaia defeated Hot Springs’ Declan Scott and Reynolds Carter 8-1 in the No. 1 boys doubles. In the No. 2 boys doubles, Lakeside’s Jared Huskey and Ethan Strozyk blanked Malachai Tackett and Andre Aundreyes Thurman 8-0.
In Hot Springs’ head-to-head with the White Hall Bulldogs, Cowan bounced back to sweep his opponent 8-0 in the No. 1 boys singles match. Rouse finished the day unbeaten with an 8-3 decision in the No. 2 boys match with White Hall. Thurman teamed with Kohl Wyatt but fell by a count of 4-8.
Gabby Cowan also bounced back in the No. 1 girls for the Trojans against White Hall. She won an 8-3 decision in the No. 1 girls match. Yanes and Randall lost the No. 1 girls doubles match by a 4-8 count but got their first win of the season by taking the No. 2 girls match with a hard-fought 9-7 win in extra sessions.
“Not bad for a couple of girls who first picked up a tennis racket in August,” said Hedrick. “They are progressing.”
For Lakeside against White Hall, Davenport dispatched Lincoln Hood 8-1 in the No. 1 boys singles matchup. McBride took care of Robert Treadwell in straight sets 6-0, 6-3.
Erskine and Isaia took care of Eric Goss and Jacob Works 6-1, 6-2. Huskey and Strozyk did likewise over Andrew Goss and Daniel Dominguez, 6-2, 6-1.
On the girls side, Altamirano blanked White Hall’s Jerrica Olsen 8-0 and Cangelosi also shut out Julianne Stephens 8-0. LaDuke and Cleveland also shut out their opponents in the No. 1 girls singles match and Ella Gulley and Clara Morrissey completed the whitewashing of the Bulldogs with an 8-0 win over Amber Jackson and Kilah Boykins.
Afterwards, Rams coach Shawny Green said she was pleased with her team’s overall effort on the night and hopes to see them continue to improve before hosting the 5A South Conference meet on October 5-6. Lakeside will also be hosting this year’s Class 5A state tournament on Oct. 12-13.
In the meantime, the Rams will also host matches with Sheridan, Bismarck (junior varsity), Hot Springs/Lake Hamilton and Texarkana over the next week — starting with Sheridan on Thursday.
“I think it was a pretty successful night for us,” coach Green said. “Our kids just keep getting better every time they play. Hopefully, it will pay off by the time of the conference tournament.”
Hot Springs will next host El Dorado on Tuesday before joining its Garland County rivals in next Thursday’s tri-meet at the Lakeside Athletic Complex. Hedrick says his team is showing progress but can’t afford to look past anyone. It is taking things one match at a time.
“We have played (El Dorado) already,” Hedrick said. “This time it will be our twos matched up with their ones and vice versa. Of course, they will forfeit the boys singles because they simply don’t have it. We’re just trying to get better. “
Hot Springs Trojans No. 2 girls doubles tennis team of Savannah Randall and Hilda Yanes take their positions during Tuesday’s tri-meet with Lakeside and White Hall at Lakeside. (The Sentinel-Record/Pat Geans)