Bulldogs battle wind, Cavaliers

By: Dave Faries, Editor
Posted 4/27/21

The weather proved more daunting for the Bulldogs than Capital City on Monday at the Fairgrounds Park tennis courts.

Mexico claimed the match 6-3, and the set wins were without drama. But one …

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Bulldogs battle wind, Cavaliers

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The weather proved more daunting for the Bulldogs than Capital City on Monday at the Fairgrounds Park tennis courts.

Mexico claimed the match 6-3, and the set wins were without drama. But one contest kept the small crowd fixated through a frigid northern gale.

Haden Frazier and Capital City’s Jonathan Dunville continued to joust long after the other spats had ended. Down early, the Bulldogs’ number two player closed the gap to 8-5.

Dashing corner to corner, side to side to extend volleys, Frazier was able to pull almost even and force an extra game. In the end, however, Dunville prevailed 11-9.

“I can’t be upset that I lost,” Frazier said. “He’s the best I’ve ever played against.”

Randy Hernandez played well, but fell 10-3 to Capital City’s talented number one, Visshva Anto. The rest of the singles lineup had little trouble.

Bryson Stuehmer cruised through a 10-1 contest while Carter McIntosh and Brendan McKeown both took down their opponents 10-2.

“I felt good,” McIntosh said. “I was hitting my ground strokes.”

And Ryan Pemberton threw a 10-0 shutout, the cushion giving him an opportunity to test himself.

“You try to get it done, but at the same time you try new things while you’re up,” he explained.

The Bulldogs captured the doubles round 2-1. Frazier and Pemberton handed out a 10-3 pasting while McIntosh and McKeown rolled over their opponents 10-1.

Again more anxious moments played out in Mexico’s doubles loss. Head coach Tony Senor has been playing with his lead pairing. This time he pitched Stuehmer alongside Hernandez for the first time. Although they were downed in a tight 10-6 set, both came away convinced they could work well as a team.

It was Stuehmer’s first appearance against top seeded players.

“I’m proud of him,” Hernandez said of his teammate. “He serves – he made them look silly.”

“We got in their heads,” Stuehmer added.

There was a moment of levity in the terse affair. An errant serve by Hernandez smacked a surprised Stuehmer in the back.

After the set, Stuehmer made the rounds, showing off the red mark to teammates and fans.

“I was aiming for the right shoulder blade,” Hernandez joked.

The wind picked up from the start and played a constant role. Blasting from north to south, it slowed some deliveries and sent others rocketing.

Pemberton noted that he could be more aggressive with the wind at his back. But as players swapped sides, they had to adjust their game.

“It was really different on each side,” McKeown pointed out. “The wind could carry the ball where you didn’t want it to go.”

The Bulldogs now hold three firsts in the Capital City tennis record book.

Last month Mexico traveled to Jefferson City to take part in the school’s first ever tennis match, beating the Cavaliers 7-2. Capital City’s visit to Mexico was their first ever second meeting.

And with the Bulldogs 6-3 win, it marks the first time Capital City lost twice to one team.


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