ARLINGTON — The Tomahawks just didn’t have enough depth to battle sickness and the Arlington Eagles on Sept. 30.
Illness left coach Robert Sherry scrambling to move his boys tennis players into spots they aren’t used to.
“It really had a ripple effect on the rest of our guys,” Sherry said. “It’s unfortunate because (Arlington and M-P) are so close. We just barely beat them before.”
And the most recent match, which resulted in a 4-3 Arlington win, was nearly as close as can be. It all hinged on the No. 3 doubles pairing of Marysville’s Sam Josephsen and Jared Randall against Arlington’s Brent Thompson and Matt Peiffle.
With all other matches concluded and a 3-3 tie, the Tomahawks were on the verge of winning four consecutive matches to steal this Wesco contest back and earn sole possession of second place.
Both Sherry and his Arlington counterpart Shawn Cunningham paced on opposite sides of the Arlington chain link fence that surrounded the pairing, while both teams watched for the deciding point. Everyone had a while to wait, however, because of some scoring confusion that forced the group to replay a tie-breaker and ultimately resulting in a 6-2, 6-7 (7-3) Arlington point.
“It’s unfortunate because of the way we lost in the end and because they were just one game behind us,” Sherry said, alluding to the tie between these two programs for third place. “The right decision was made (to replay the tie-breaker) but it’s too bad that it had to alter the course of play.”
Nevertheless, Sherry saw some encouraging signs from his boys.
“Our No. 1 singles (Corey Coombs) fought back after losing the first set to get that win,” he said. “That was important for him against a formidable team.”
Overall, Wednesday’s match was playing out quite similar to that of Sept. 9, where the Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and the Tomahawks pulled off the victory by winning four straight. The conclusion was different this time, but Sherry saw wins from Coombs over Ari Fernando 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, No. 3 singles Lucas Stevens over Eric McElroy 7-6 (7-1), 6-0, and No. 1 doubles team Jared Rumsey and Jake Hereth defeated Tucker DeGraffenreid and Taylor Hartsell 6-0, 6-4.
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