Bunn High School Tennis

Bunn High School Tennis Information page for BHS tennis. Notices for workouts, practices, matches, schedule changes, and ins

04/02/2025

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN
That’s some strong talk from a guy who has only ridden one horse (actually it was a pony) for about two yards. Somebody set me on his (or maybe her) back, a little VW Beetle came up the dirt road from behind and beeped his little horn, the pony took off, flipping me off over its big rear end in about the same place I mounted up, partner.

Nevertheless, I am back in the saddle on Facebook. At least for the time being.

If you thought not getting on Facebook to brag on my Bunn High School tennis team was getting under my skin, you’d be right. I could go on and on about how weird it is not being connected to all my Facebook friends and family, but ain’t nobody – not even me! – got time for dat.

In my last post about the undefeated Wildcats, we’d just won our 6th straight match against JF Webb in Oxford. It was somewhere close to that point my Facebook account was locked because somebody somewhere wanted to be me a lot more than I did. They won. But only temporarily.

Since then, we’ve had three more matches and completed the rain-delayed match against Northern Nash.

On 3/20, we squared off against Rocky Mount again and came away with a 9-0 win. The guys played some very good tennis, delivering 6 bagels during the singles competition and lost 2 or less games in 6 other sets. That’s very strong, if you ask me, but no one did, so I’ll continue.

On 3/21, we picked up where we left off against NN in our second match of the season. We had won a singles match and lost another. We were behind in three other singles matches and dead even in another. We won the dead even match and then lost the three we were losing. It was a classic case of too little and way too late. Down 4-2 going into the doubles matches, we won #1 and #2 doubles but lost #3. The final was NN 5, the Wildcats 4.
Close, but no cigar.

We played only our second ‘home’ match at Louisburg High School on 3/27 against the Red Rams of Franklinton. We prevailed 6-3 in this match over a much-improved Franklinton team. Items worth of note: our #1 doubles team lost its first match of the season in a very tight 8-6 battle. Elias Brown and Jersain Barrios-Araujo still own a great record in doubles - 7-1. Speaking of great records, Noah Reed and Tucker Mitchell remained undefeated in doubles, taking the #2 match by an 8-3 margin.

And now were up to yesterday, April Fool’s Day. There’s no fooling that we needed to beat Southern Nash again. We are in a 3-way tie for first place in the Big East 2A/3A conference with the polar Nash teams – Northern and Southern. Northern has beaten us, we’ve beaten Southern, and Southern has beaten Northern. Yeah, figure that one out. The three of us all have only one loss in the conference and, as of this morning, the Bunn Wildcats are rated #4 in the state in 2A competition! Go ‘Cats!

Although the final score gives us what sounds like a sounding win over SN at 7-2, the match was a heck of a lot closer than that score indicates. Both teams played some very good tennis. There were literally thousands of shots. I watched one point between our #6 seeds and the ball crossed the net 36 times! These were not tentative shots either. Both guys – Josiah Clifton for us and Alex Rodriguez (not THAT one, another one) were blasting groundstrokes at each other.

We won the match during the singles competition 5-1, but it was anything but easy. Noah Reed remained undefeated at 10-0, but was in a knockdown, drag out fight with Jamey Richardson. When the dust settled on this one, Noah claimed a well-deserved and hard-earned 7-5, 7-5 victory. Elias Brown dominated at #1 singles, defeating Luis Robles 6-3, 6-0. Tucker Mitchell handled Brayden Brown 7-5, 6-3 with some absolute laser shots.

In the #5 singles, Alex Goodman lost the first set 6-0, bounced back to win the second set 6-1 and took the 3rd set tiebreaker by a score of 10-8. Josiah won the first set in #6 singles against Alex and then dropped the second set by the same score. Alex came through in the tiebreaker, though, winning 10-6.

Jersain Barrios-Araujo lost his first match of the season against Brayden Wells in another gloves-off battle royale. It was obvious that Jersain was not playing his best tennis, but he still hung in there and never gave up. He was down bigtime in both sets and still managed to pull within two games of winning, losing 6-4, 6-4. Jersain’s singles record is 8-1.

Anyway, I just wanted to get this out there and brag on my boys a little bit before something else happens to my Facebook account.
Our next match is at home (in Louisburg) against Nash Central on Thursday, April 3 at 3:30.

Our final match of the season will be a showdown in Louisburg against Northern Nash on 4/14, hopefully with the conference championship on the line. Nothing like a little excitement…

And a big thank you to Michael Clifton for posting photographs from our matches on Facebook. THANK YOU, MICHAEL!

WILDCATS MOVE TO 6-0Back in early February, I didn’t know what I was getting us into when I reached out to schedule a co...
03/14/2025

WILDCATS MOVE TO 6-0

Back in early February, I didn’t know what I was getting us into when I reached out to schedule a couple of non-conference matches with JF Webb High School’s tennis team. I called my old friend Will Darden, who has been the tennis coach there for the past 25 years, only to find that he has moved on to greener pastures at Oxford Prep.

After a little dance and some phone tag with the school, I was able to contact their new coach, Alex Tharpe, and scheduled home and away games. We nailed down two dates and today was the first of those two meetings. JF Webb plays their home matches at The Gap, which is the Granville Athletic Park, and it is a very nice place, especially with six nice courts for tennis.

Apparently, we caught JF Webb in a rebuilding year. Only two of their six players had any experience, and it was obvious from watching them warm up that we should roll right over them like a steamroller. As Coach Tharpe watched our guys warm up, he saw the same thing and confessed that some of his guys had zero experience. I told him my guys would help his guys as much as they could, but we were still going to play to win.

Before the match started, I told our players what I’d told Coach Tharpe and gave no other explanation. I don’t really know what I was asking my players to do. They just said, “We got this.”

I could not be any prouder of our players. They took care of business AND helped the inexperienced players on the other team as much as they possibly could under game conditions. Coach Tharpe said his team has played only one other match and that was against DSA (Durham School of the Arts, a perennial tennis powerhouse). He said that whole experience left a bad taste in his mouth. The DSA players were cold and indifferent, even after beating them in all the matches.

Our guys are top notch kids, folks, and they’re darn good tennis players, too. The Wildcats walked away with another 9-0 victory and an even bigger humanitarian award.

In the #1 singles, Elias Brown bested a very stubborn Anthony Bell in straight sets by an 0-6, 0-6 score. Elias was in control the whole match, but Anthony’s hustle made it a somewhat difficult match.

And talk about pesky opponents, Noah Reed needed a third set tiebreaker to defeat Daniel Crutchfield in the #2 singles slot. Daniel won the first set 7-5, Noah bounced back and took the second set 2-6, and that set up his 5-10 win in the tiebreaker to win the set 1-2.

Tucker Mitchell handled his affairs nicely and neatly in the #3 singles by dispatching Brandon Scales 0-6, 1-6 in straight sets.

In the #4 singles seed, Jersain Barrios-Araujo defeated Philip Jones 0-6, 0-6 in straight sets.

Alex Goodman also handed out a pair of bagels to Cameron Brooks in the #5 singles match at 0-6, 0-6 for another straight sets win.

Josiah Clifton dished out a couple of bagels in his 0-6, 0-6 straight sets victory over Soloman Gage.

In the #1 doubles match, Elias and Jersain defeated Anthony and Dainel 1-8.

In the #2 doubles seed, Noah and Tucker were victorious over Brandon and Philip 0-8.

In the #3 doubles match, Josiah and Daniel defeated Cameron and Soloman by an 0-8 spread.

Our 3-6 seeds showed a lot of patience and understanding to their opponents in these matches, not once trying to show anyone up or put anyone down. I realize this was a lot to ask of kids in their teens, but they rose to the occasion like the good kids they are.

Again, I’m very proud of our student/athletes.

We have only one match next week. On Thursday, we’ll be at home (well, in Louisburg) to play Rocky Mount High School at 3:30. This is a good break for us after three matches this week. We are practicing tomorrow and the first three days of next week to prepare for the second half of the season.

Photos courtesy of Michael Clifton.

THE BRAD GILBERT SCHOOL OF TENNISOLOGYTennis players worldwide are aware of this phenomenon. It’s called ‘winning ugly’ ...
03/12/2025

THE BRAD GILBERT SCHOOL OF TENNISOLOGY

Tennis players worldwide are aware of this phenomenon. It’s called ‘winning ugly’ and it’s a real thing. Brad Gilbert, who reached a #4 world ranking in the ATP, even wrote a book called “Winning Ugly” near the end of his career. This evening, the Bunn High School Wildcats tennis team traveled to Nashville to square off against the Nash Central High School Bulldogs and we won.

And we won ugly. We even swept the whole match 9-0. But like I said, it was ugly.

During Gilbert’s career, he was known as a ‘pusher’ which is a player who just gets balls back over the net, doesn’t try to hit winners, and just waits for his opponent to make the unforced error that loses the point. We ran into several of these pushers at Nash Central today. They would hit the ball back and wait for us to make a mistake. Instead of forcing the issue against them, we started doing the same thing! We just hit it back over the net and waited for them to make a mistake.

Apparently, we were a little better at it than they were.

It’s totally my fault for not preparing my players for this kind of strategy and I’m hoping we can find the cure at practice Wednesday afternoon. I’m just thankful that we dodged this very large, slow-moving bullet today.

Today’s win gives us a 5-0 record in the conference and overall.

Playing in the #6 seed position today, Josiah Clifton faced a pusher, but he was having none of it. Against Nash Central’s Josh Eason, Josiah took the Josh’s shots on the short hop which took time away from his plan. Josiah also continued to hit strong, deep shots that handcuffed his opponent. After about forty-five minutes, Josiah walked away with an 0-6, 0-6 win in straight sets. (Home team scores are listed first.)

Bunn 1, Nash Central 0.

Fifteen minutes later, our #3 seed, Tucker Mitchell, had taken that match from Cam Petteway 1-6, 4-6 in straight sets. Tucker used his head today more than his devastating forehand and dropped a ton of shots just over the net that Cam just could not get to in time. All parts of Tucker’s game were clicking – his serve and his volleys at the net – but he was still dealing with a pusher. He ran into a little trouble in the second set, but got it worked out in time to secure the victory.

Bunn 2, Nash Central 0.

Central’s #5 seed, Deun Roundtree, coerced Alex Goodman into a pusher’s party in their match. It is obvious, at least to me, that Alex is the better tennis player, but when you get into a pusher match, time slows down to almost a standstill. Back and forth, back and forth, with neither guy trying to do anything except get the ball back across the net is not fun to watch. Deun had Alex playing his game, but Alex turned out to be a little better at it than Deun was, at least today. Alex won the match 7-5, 6-3 after what seemed like two or three lifetimes. Alex and I are going to work on how to beat a pusher, but not at his own game.

Bunn 3, Nash Central 0.

In the #2 singles match, Noah Reed didn’t succumb to the pusher tactics, but he had his hands full with Ethan Frantz, a very good tennis player. Noah was off his game, for sure, but he still made life very difficult for Ethan. Noah’s footwork was missing for most of the match and this caused his normally steady barrage of good shots to be off just a little, but a little makes a big difference on the tennis court. It was a tough match for both guys, but when it was over, Noah had prevailed by a 3-6, 4-6 margin. A win is a win, ugly or not.

Bunn 4, Nash Central 0.

There was also a pusher party underway on court 4 with Jersain Barrios-Araujo and Blane Hale in the #4 singles seed. I have to give Jersain a pass though, as he is still playing catchup due to his accident last year. He stood tall and tough against his opponent, not in a knockdown, drag-out street brawl, but a subdued battle of wills, lobs, and get-me-over shots. Jersain, too, had prevailed on the good side of the score at the end, winning this one 3-6, 5-7 in straight sets.

Bunn 5, Nash Central 0. Bunn wins the match.

At the top spot, the #1 singles match, Elias Brown was aligned with Christian Frantz. Earlier this season, Christian defeated Northern Nash’s #1 seed and played very well against Southern Nash’s #1. Needless to say, that Christian is a very good tennis player, but there it is. Elias, still playing with a fire burning deep inside, dismantled this very good tennis player to the tune of a 3-6, 2-6 straight set shellacking. This could mean only one thing: Elias must be a fairly good tennis player himself.

Bunn 6, Nash Central 0.

I think all our guys are very good tennis players. To play the way they did today – ugly and unmotivated – says a lot about their games. I’ve told them not to worry about winning or losing, although that’s almost a waste of breath. All I care about is helping them improve every time they take the court. If they work hard to improve and perfect the basic skills and fundamentals, the winning will take care of itself. I think we proved that today. None of them really played their best tennis, but they still swept a match and that’s not easy to do, even when you’re at the top of your game.

In the #1 doubles match, Elias and Jersain defeated Christian and Cam 2-8 and weren’t really challenged at all. Bunn 7, Nash Central 0.

In the #2 doubles slot, Noah and Tucker got some resistance from Ethan and Blain but won the match 6-8. Bunn 8, Nash Central 0.

In the #3 doubles, Alex and Daniel Scoggins left no doubt that they are for real as a doubles team, blanking Deun and Josh 0-8. Bunn 9, Nash Central 0.

I haven’t compiled our individual record yet, but I feel safe in saying, at this point in the season, everyone is undefeated in singles, and we’ve lost only one doubles match, and it was very close. I think we’re doing well.

We travel to Oxford Thursday to take on JF Webb in our final match of the week.

Photos courtesy of Michael Clifton.

WILDCATS 8-0 OVER YELLOW JACKETSIn our first real home match, even though we were still ten miles from home, the Bunn Hi...
03/11/2025

WILDCATS 8-0 OVER YELLOW JACKETS

In our first real home match, even though we were still ten miles from home, the Bunn High School boys tennis team enjoyed an 8-0 win over Roanoke Rapids at the Louisburg High School courts. The victory pushed our conference and overall records to 4-0.

A rain-delayed match against Northern Nash is pending completion. NN was slightly ahead when we stopped playing, but in high school tennis that doesn’t really mean anything because things can change in a hurry. I think we’re a much better team now than we were that day in Red Oak. We shall see.

Our #2 seed, Noah Reed, finished his match first. He defeated Avery Garner 6-1, 6-1 in straight sets. Avery, built like linebacker Luke Kuechly, has surprisingly good hands and a good serve. He must have failed to notice that Noah, built like Christian McCaffrey, has good hands, a good serve, and hawks the net like a, uh, well, like a hawk. And Noah is fast, too, and quick. Two different, but very necessary attributes for a tennis player. The two sets were actually much closer than the score indicates because most of the fourteen games were fairly close and very well-played.

Bunn leads 1-0.

Elias Brown, our #1 seed, bested his foe, Talan Harris, in straight sets as well. Elias lost only one game, winning 6-1, 6-0. He has been on fire since his second set comeback and tiebreaker win at Southern Nash last week. Elias is like a man on a mission, flying all over the court, chasing down potential winners and turning the table by hitting absolute winners. He, too, hawks the net and picks up a lot of easy points. That may be a little misleading as most points are not really ‘easy’ to win. But by being in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing with the ball is what he’s supposed to do, and when he accomplishes that, it does look easy.

Bunn leads 2-0.

Tucker Mitchell, our #3 seed, took on Ryland Yeatts and came away with a 6-2, 6-4 win in straight sets. Tucker seemed to have Ryland’s number in the first set, but Ryland kicked his game up a notch or two in the second set, winning twice as many games as he did in the first set, but it was still not enough to deter Tucker from victory. Again, Tucker was stroking some masterful winners, but he missed quite a few shots simply from choosing the wrong shot to take. It’s not anything that we can’t work out in a good practice session and we should have one coming Wednesday afternoon.

Bunn leads 3-0.

In the #4 seed singles, Jersain Barrios-Araujo locked horns with Dawson Garner in a barnburner. Jersain was able to walk away with a 6-4, 6-2 victory in straight sets, but it was anything but easy. Most of the eighteen games they played were close, hard-fought affairs. Jersain’s perseverance and determination did well by him in this match. One misstep and it could have been a different story. Jersain played very well, but missed too many easy put-away shots that either extended the point or he lost it on the unforced error. I take the blame for this and I intend to fix it at our next practice. Jersain admitted that he himself made the match much more difficult than it should have been.

Bunn leads 4-0.

Josiah Clifton defeated James Prince 6-3, 6-4 in straight sets in the #5 singles, but it was a struggle. James is lefthanded and put a lot of spin on the ball, much like the righthanded Josiah, and that gave Josiah problems all through the match. He managed to overcome his frustration and nail down the win, though. Josiah, too, possesses some fierce determination and perseverance. He kept plugging and plodding and took the final two games of the second set.

Bunn wins the match 5-0, but we kept playing.

In the #6 singles, Daniel Scoggins overcame a very pesky Joe Huss to earn a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (13-11) victory. Daniel struggled a little in the first set, but won. He struggled even more in the second set and lost. But with everything on the line, he buckled down in the tiebreaker, coming back from being down 3 points twice, to tie it at 11-11. Daniel did not struggle during the last two points. He put the ball away at the net both times with ‘no-doubters’ that Joe didn’t have a prayer of returning.

Bunn leads 6-0.

In the #1 doubles match, Elias and Jersain faced off against Dawson and Avery Garner. Rolling with the big locomotive momentum they started last Thursday against Southern Nash, Elias and Jersain pulled out of the station with a relatively easy 8-2 win.

Bunn leads 7-0.

Noah and Tucker also employed some ‘boom boom, out go the lights’ strategy on Adam Morris and Dekker Pernesky in the #2 doubles match. When the dust settled on this one, Noah and Tucker had won by an 8-1 margin.

It was getting near dark at this point of the evening, and one of Roanoke Rapids #3 doubles players (Joe Huss) had just finished his singles match with Daniel. My good friend and coach of the Yellow Jackets, Stevie Harris, and I decided to not play the #3 doubles. It would have been pointless anyway, not to mention dangerous.

Bunn wins the match 8-0.

Tomorrow afternoon we travel to Nash Central High School for another conference showdown. On Thursday, we’re heading for Oxford, to take on JF Webb in a non-conference matchup.

These great photographs are courtesy of Grace Garrett.

These great photos are courtesy of Coach Patrick Reynell of Bunn High School.
03/08/2025

These great photos are courtesy of Coach Patrick Reynell of Bunn High School.

03/07/2025

WILDCATS GROUND THE FIREBIRDS

The Bunn High School Wildcats men’s tennis team took all the flight and most of the fight out of the Southern Nash High School Firebirds Thursday evening with an 8-1 victory. The wind was whipping in at 18-20 miles per hour and the temperature hovered in the mid-40s, but it felt a lot colder than that. Mother Nature had zero effect on the Wildcats’ will to win and they burned the place to the ground.

This was supposed to be our first home match (at Louisburg High School), but we switched venues to make use of SNHS’s six tennis courts as opposed to LHS’s four courts. If we’d played in Louisburg, we’d still be there. Keep in mind this is a home match for us.

For an old fat guy, I have to admit that I nearly froze to death at the match. I played tennis myself this morning under basically the same conditions, but I swear it was twice as cold this evening as it was this morning. My hands and feet felt like blocks of ice as I walked the ends of the six courts giving advice and encouragement where it was needed to guys wearing shorts and thin, dri-fit shirts. I was not a comfortable camper.

Our #6 seed, Josiah Clifton finished his match first against Eli Maldonado, but I can’t say that he made short work of Eli. Josiah won in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, but it took nearly an hour to play. Strong groundstrokes from the forehand and backhand sides propelled Josiah to his second straight singles win. Josiah’s victory put us in the lead 1-0.

The next to finish off his man was Noah Reed in the #2 singles slot. Noah played a very strong match against a very capable Jamey Richardson, also winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. The wind didn’t seem to bother Noah one iota as he served well, was clicking forehands and backhands with precision, and came to the net to finish some points at will. Noah chalked up his third straight singles victory. Noah’s win pushed our lead to 2-0.

Tucker Mitchell dispensed Brayden Wells in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in the #3 singles spot with a fine performance. Tucker blasted some incredible winners that resounded around the courts. Absolute blasts, they were. He missed a couple as well, but like a good tennis player, he didn’t let a few misses keep him from hitting his shots. His serve was strong and his footwork is improving as well. Tucker’s only going to get stronger as the season progresses and I hate it for his opponents. Wait. No, I don’t. Keep pounding it, Tucker! Tucker’s win extended our lead to 3-0.

Elias Brown, our #1 seed, didn’t win a game in the first set against Luis Robles, a very good tennis player. He got shut out 0-6. A bagel. Elias scored some points, but didn’t win a game. Luis had Elias’s number. But you have to win two sets to win the match. I’d like to think it was something I said when I talked to Elias after that first set beatdown, but I don’t think it was. Whatever it was, Elias took it straight to Luis in the second set. It was nip and tuck through the first eight games. Elias tied it at 4-4 and then won the next two to take the second set 6-4. In the 10-point tiebreaker, Elias continued to roll and won it 10-6, earning him the match win. Elias’s victory got us to within one of the magic number 5, giving us a 4-0 lead. This was Elias’s third straight win of the season.

When our #4 seed, Jersain Barrios-Araujo defeated Brayden Wells 6-3, 6-3, we had won the match 5-0. Jersain keeps improving his overall game and recapturing the skills he lost in an automobile accident in late July of last year. I have to tell you that I am thoroughly enjoying his remarkable recovery since one of his doctors told him he’d probably never walk again. He’s walking well. And running well. And flying all over the court knocking the fuzz off tennis balls. Jersain earned his second win of the season.

Our #5 seed, Alex Goodman, dispatched his opponent, Jose Torres, 6-3 in the first set in less than 30 minutes, but it took him an hour to win the second set 7-5. I don’t know if he let up on Jose or if Jose buckled down on him, but I knew Alex wasn’t going to roll over and give it to him when Jose tied the set at 5-5. Alex has a knack for getting the job done and he did just that, playing nearly flawless tennis during the last two games. Alex’s second win of the season gave us a commanding 6-0 lead.

Our #1 doubles duo of Elias and Jersain ran into a buzz saw in the persons of Luis and Jamey. This was a classic battle that went back and forth with many lead changes throughout the 8-game pro set. Tied at 8-8, Elias and Jersain prevailed by an 8-6 margin in the tiebreaker to win the match 9-8. This win increased our lead to 7-0.

In the #2 doubles, Noah and Tucker had their chemistry working some magic on Brayden and Brayden. The Bunn pair dominated every facet of the game and walked away with an 8-2 victory. We were now in the lead at 8-0.

In the #3 doubles, Daniel Scoggins and Tyson Smith lost to Jose and Eli by a 2-8 score. We may have lost the set, but Tyson gained some valuable playing time and experience. Being paired with our doubles specialist, Daniel, Tyson will only get better by following Daniel’s example. If a ball comes anywhere near the net, Daniel is going to slam it down and deposit it somewhere over the fence. Tyson, take notes. That’s what you’re going to be doing by midseason.

Final score: Bunn 8, Southern Nash 1.

On Monday, March 10, we will have our actual first home game, though it really won’t be at our home, at Louisburg High School against Roanoke Rapids High School. Match time is 3:30.

On Tuesday, March 11, we travel to Nash Central High School and on Thursday, March 13, we travel to Oxford for a non-conference match against JF Webb High School.

03/05/2025

TENNIS MATCH NOT IN LOUISBURG TOMORROW

Tomorrow’s home match against Southern Nash that was scheduled to be in Louisburg will instead be played at Southern Nash High School. The time of the match is still 3:30.

Since Southern Nash has six courts, we are going to play this home match there instead of Louisburg. There’s a good chance we will need to play all nine matches to determine the winner and there are no lights at the four courts in Louisburg.

Thanks to Daylight Savings Time, we ‘spring forward’ an hour this coming Sunday, so we will play the rest of our home matches at Louisburg High School.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

A few photos from yesterday's match against Franklinton High School.I took pictures of everyone, but not all of them tur...
03/05/2025

A few photos from yesterday's match against Franklinton High School.

I took pictures of everyone, but not all of them turned out well. Taking photographs through a chain link fence is a pain. A lot of pix were blurry. Plus, I'm not much of a photographer.

03/05/2025

WILDCATS SWEEP FRANKLINTON 9-0

I have often likened coaching high school tennis to riding blindfolded on a runaway rollercoaster. There are a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns and you don’t really see any of them coming. You just have to be ready for them, adapt, and keep on rolling with the punches.

Monday’s text message from Elias Brown, our #1, telling me that he wouldn’t be at practice that afternoon because he has a project he needed to work on, was a drop-off I certainly wasn’t expecting. But I definitely understood: academics come first. Elias was sick for a few weeks last month and has been playing catchup lately and that’s not an easy thing to do.

An email from his father this morning telling me that Elias may not be able to make it to the match due to a deadline on the project was even more disheartening, but again, I understood. I didn’t particularly like it, but I understood. So, along with Plan A for today’s match, I had to come up with a Plan B, which didn’t include our #1 player. Imagine if you will the Chicago Bulls without Michael Jordan. Plan B may as well have been Plan Z.

On the way to Bunn to catch up with team and the bus headed to Franklinton, I got a call from Elias telling me that he will be at the match. You can’t even imagine the thrill that part of the rollercoaster ride gave me. It was indescribable. Please notice that I’m not even trying to describe it.

Warning: Keep your hands and feet inside the car and remain seated until the ride comes to a complete stop.

Franklinton has four courts and the first four matches started basically at the same time after a few more minutes of warmups. Our guys like to start out slow. I don’t know why they do this, but they do. Whether it’s to get on my nerves or if it’s an actual strategy they employ on their own, I don’t know. I do know this: if they end up with the same result as they did today, they can start off as slowly as they want from now on.

Our #4 seed, Jersain Barrios-Araujo was the first to finish his match. He put away Franklinton’s Andrew Lynn 2-6, 0-6. (Home team score is always listed first.) Jersain methodically dismantled Andrew’s game in about 45 minutes. This opened up Court 4 for our #5, Alex Goodman to begin his match with William Grenier. Bunn leads 1-0.

Noah Reed, our #2 player, took just a little more than an hour to dispatch his foe, Lleyton Perry. After arriving at a 6-6 score in the first set, Noah won it 6-7 by taking the tiebreaker 6-8. Lleyton didn’t put up nearly as much resistance in the second set, falling to Noah’s relentless and solid forehands and backhands by a 2-6 margin. Court 2 was then taken by #6 seed Josiah Clifton and his opponent, Keegan Michael. Bunn leads 2-0.

The #3 seed, Tucker Mitchell, needed about an hour and fifteen minutes to take care of Noah Michael. Tucker dominated the first set 2-6, but got a little complacent in set two. He scored a 6-7 win in the second set after winning the tiebreaker 5-7. Tucker’s serve was on the mark and his baseline game was solid as a rock. Bunn leads 3-0.

In the #1 singles, Elias Brown made short work of Franklinton’s #1, Nicolas Henry in the first set, winning by a 2-6 margin. I think Elias was a little fatigued in the second set as Nicolas matched him point for point and game for game to reach a 6-6 deadlock, prompting yet another tiebreaker. Elias reached deep and came away with a 6-7 win by beating Nicolas 2-7 in the tiebreaker. Bunn leads 4-0.

We need only five wins to take the match.

Alex Goodman gave us the overall match win when he defeated William Grenier 2-6, 1-6 in the #5 singles slot. Like Jersain, Alex is methodical in his approach to tennis. He gets the ball back nearly every shot and allows his opponent to beat himself. Very economical and very smart. Bunn leads 5-0.

At #6, Josiah Clifton is frustrated playing against Keegan Michael, but he takes care of business and wins the match 0-6, 2-6. Josiah is still finding his way back to form after missing last season, but he’s coming on strong. Once he develops a little more confidence in his groundstrokes, he’s going to be hard to handle. He’s kind of tough to handle now. Bunn leads 6-0.

Since Franklinton has lights, we used them to get in the three doubles matches. The match was virtually over when Alex got our 5th win, but Coach Ratledge and I wanted our doubles teams to get some match experience for the rest of the season. It was getting cooler by the minute, but the players sure didn’t notice.

Our #1 doubles team, Elias and Jersain, beat Nicolas and Lleyton 6-8 in a well-fought battle. Bunn leads 7-0.

Noah Reed and Tucker, our #2 doubles seed, handled Franklinton’s Noah Michael and Andrew to the tune of 3-8. Bunn leads 8-0.

In the #3 doubles match, Daniel and Tyson (with Tyson playing in his first high school match) hung tough and defeated William and Keegan by a 7-9 margin.

Overall, the guys played a great match, nothing short of phenomenal. They played hard and they played smart. A coach can’t ask for much more than that, except maybe a little faster start…

Address

Bunn, NC

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Bunn High School Tennis posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Bunn High School Tennis:

Shortcuts

Share