Tigers defeated by Mt. Vernon, O’Hara

The Nevada Tigers tennis team endured a pair of losses, as they were edged on the road by Mt. Vernon 5-4 on Tuesday, followed by Wednesday’s 9-0 West Central Conference loss to visiting Archbishop O’Hara.

With the losses, Nevada drops to 3-5-1 overall and 1-2 in the WCC.

Mt. Vernon match

Held at Spirit of 76 Complex in Mt. Vernon, Nevada was defeated in four of its six singles matches, while winning two of its three doubles matches.

At No. 1 singles, Nevada’s Sheel Patel fell to Cameron Hutchinson 8-4; No. 2 singles: Mt. Vernon’s Mason Adams beat Jace Lanham 8-2; No. 3 singles: Nevada’s Tanner Gotshall doubled up Derek Dorrance 8-4; No. 4 singles Michael Long of Mt. Vernon edged Caleb Theis 8-6; No. 5 singles Nevada’s Colson Fisher steamrolled Daryck Wheeler 8-1; and No. 6 singles Nevada’s Gabe Barnes suffered his first defeat of the season, as he was toppled by Sam Burks 8-6.

In doubles play, Nevada’s top tandem, Patel and Theis, was knocked off by Hutchinson and Adams 8-1. At No. 2 Nevada’s Lanham and Fisher duo, triumphed over Dorrance and Long 9-7. And at No. 3, Gotshall and Barnes prevailed over Wheeler and Burks 8-6.

“It was a close match, even with several (of our) players who were battling some illness,” Nevada head coach Clayton Wheeler said. “In several matches tonight, we were within one or two games but could not overcome that deficit.”

Wheeler continued: “On a very positive note, the players are improving with every match. Hopefully we can get well and continue improving and make up some ground in the conference standings. “

Nevada recorded victories in both of its JV singles matches, with Braden Laning and Spencer Hawkins emerging victorious. Nevada also won one of its two JV doubles matches.

“The junior varsity team had a good night winning three of four matches with the only loss happening in a tiebreaker game,” Wheeler noted.

O’Hara match

The Tigers returned to the Nevada High tennis courts on Wednesday, where Nevada was swept by Archbishop O’Hara.

At No. 1 Patel fell to Justin House 8-1; No. 2 Lanham lost 8-1; No. 3 Gotshall was topped 8-3; No. 4 Theis fell 8-4; No. 5 Fisher was beat 8-0; and No. 6 Barnes was bested 8-2.

Nevada dropped all three of its doubles matches by identical scores of 8-2. The Tigers, however, were able to pick up a junior varsity doubles-match victory as Laning and Hawkins edged past Alex Davis and Josh Rogge 7-6 (7-3 tiebreak).

“We gave a good effort tonight against a very strong O’Hara team,” Wheeler said. “O’Hara has come out as one of the best teams in the conference and we really struggled to execute.”

Wheeler continued: “Hopefully, playing a tough team tonight will prepare us to take on Carl Junction and Monett (in our upcoming matches).

“I was still pleased to see that as a whole, the team is getting better every time we play. When it comes to tennis, it has always seemed that while practice is important, it’s the matches that really grow players. We still have things to work on, but we are getting there.”

NHS records

–– Singles ––

• Patel 0-6, Lanham 4-5, Gotshall 2-3, Theis 1-5, Fisher 4-5, Barnes 4-2.

–– Doubles ––

• Patel/Theis 3-5, Lanham/Fisher 4-1, Gotschall/Barnes 5-3.