By Bill Bray
The Little Giant netters competed in the TRAC championships and had a fifth-place finish over the weekend.
The Giants were forced to go without the services of their No. 1 singles player, Weston Schroeder due to sickness. “Weston, being sick, had to forfeit his two matches on Saturday,” coach Lisa Wolfe said. “He was seeded fifth going in. On Day 2 he would have played for 7th place. Since the Lima player forfeited, Weston ended up finishing seventh.”
In no. 2 singles, Kurt Harrison was seeded fifth and finished fifth. Harrison lost to his St. Francis opponent 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), defeated Lima 8-1, then defeated Central 6-1, 6-2 for the fifth-place finish.
Cole Kinsey, in third singles was seeded fifth and placed fifth. Kinsey lost to St. Francis 4-6, 3-6, defeated Lima 8-0, and defeated Whitmer 7-6, (1) 6-1.
In Doubles action, Gabe Ontiveros and Brayden Ebinger were seeded fourth and placed fourth. The duo defeated Oregon Clay 6-3, 7-5, lost to St. John’s 6-0, 6-0, lost to St. Francis 6-2, 6-0.
In second Doubles, Gage Ross and Reece Carter were seeded sixth and finished fifth.
They lost to St. John’s 6-0, 6-1, defeated Whitmer 8-4, defeated Central 6-1, 6-4. It was the pair’s first win over Whitmer after being defeated by the Panther pair in the regular season.
“The team did a great job with two rounds on Saturday and their final round Monday,” Wolfe said. “As a coach you want them to finish where they were seeded according to their records during the duals, Wolfe explained. “Everyone did their job and #2D defeated a team they had lost to with them ending higher than what they were seeded. Kurt and the doubles team of Gage and Reece helped our 5th place finish by knocking off Central in those two positions on day 2. I am very proud of our team’s performance at the tournament. They played hard the entire tournament.”
Monday, with the tournament concluded, the team returned home for their “senior night” matches defeating Oak Harbor 5-0.
Weston Schroeder, back on the court, took a 6-1, 6-2 victory in first singles. Kurt Harrison was a 6-2, 6-2 winner in second singles and Reece Carter was a 6-1, 6-4 winner in third singles.
In first doubles, the team of Gabe Ontiveros and Brayden Ebinger were 6-0, 6-0 winners and the second double team of Gabe Ross and Cole Kinsey were 6-2, 6-0 winners.
The Giants are back on the court Tuesday as they travel to Springfield for a non-league match.