Prep boys tennis: Shorewood 5, Meadowdale 2
Published 10:38 pm Thursday, September 22, 2011
SHORELINE — There wasn’t any kind of official ceremony like the ones you would find at a military base yet this changing of the guard in Wesco 3A boys tennis was unmistakeable.
Shorewood hosted the reigning league champions, a Meadowdale squad that brought a 21 match win streak into Shoreview Park dating back to last season and defeated them handily 5-2, sweeping all four singles matches.
Thunderbirds No. 1 singles player Hunter Nelson defeated Meadowdale’s Brian Nguyen 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 while his three other senior teammates — Justin Oh, Miles Jamieson and Trevor Cronin — also held serve in their matches.
Shorewood head coach Arnie Moreno pointed to his squad’s experience as the difference in the singles matches.
“We’re a pretty senior-laden team and they’ve been our one through four singles for a couple years now,” Moreno said. “We felt that we very strong and had an edge in singles.”
As you would expect from two top teams, the matches were tightly contested with both the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches going three sets. Perhaps none moreso than the No. 1 singles match.
After splitting the first two sets with Nguyen, Nelson came back in the decisive third set to defeat Nguyen 7-5, which set the tone for the rest of the match according to Moreno.
“It was definitely close. The big match was Hunter Nelson coming back in that third set,” admitted Moreno. “Hunter’s probably playing his best tennis and that has helped us.”
The Thunderbirds, led by their four senior singles players, now control Wesco 3A.
At Shoreview Park
Singles–Hunter Nelson (S) def. Brian Nguyen 6-2, 2-6, 7-5; Justin Oh (S) def. Nick Ekern 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2; Miles Jamieson (S) def. Ha Yong-Lee 6-2, 6-2; Trevor Cronin (S) def. Terry Milner 6-2, 6-0. Doubles–Evan Devries-Andrew Fijalka (M) def. Liam Keebler-Eric Berquist 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Cameron McDowell-Isaac Brengelmann (S) def. Jason Young-Bennett Holton 5-7, 6-0, 6-2; Elliot Duffus-Hayden Sherril (M) def. Logan Keebler-Evan Strandberg 6-3, 6-2. Records–Meadowdale 7-1 league, 7-1 overall. Shorewood 8-0, 8-0.
