Boys tennis ties Libby

A shorthanded Whitefish boys tennis team split their matches 3-3 with the Libby Loggers during the first meet of the season on Saturday.

With 12 players on the varsity roster, coach Kathy Cummings was only able to muster nine players for the trip to Libby because of spring break.

While the Bulldogs scored two of their three victories on the singles side, Libby made up the ground with its doubles pairings.

The Bulldogs' number one singles player, Izaak Opatz, defeated Loggers' top gun, Mike Bardole, 6-3, 6-0.

At number two singles, Whitefish's Ben James defeated Libby's Gabe Sorenson in similiar fashion, 6-2, 6-0.

In the number three singles spot, Libby turned the tide on the Bulldogs, as Hunter Sheffield defeated Eli Reynolds 6-1, 6-2.

In the longest match of the day, Whitefish's number one doubles players, Scott Johnson and Ryan Rottenbiller, battled Jim Mee and Hannes Tjelstrom for nearly two hours before making a second and third set comeback to take the win. The final score of the match was 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in Whitefish's favor.

At the number two doubles slot, the Loggers' Steve Hauck and Chris Schnackenberg let only one game slip in their 6-1, 6-0 win over Bulldogs Nick McBride and Dylan Dryden.

The other close match of the day came in at number three doubles, where Libby's Zak Ercanbrack and Matt Wickstrom overcame a first set 7-5 tiebreaker loss to win in the following two sets, 6-3, 6-3.

The Bulldogs next meet is against the Columbia Falls Wildcats on April 11 at home, followed only two days later by another home match against the Polson Pirates on April 13.

The boys are playing practice matches at the Grouse Mountain tennis courts.