Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Senior Andrew Vigil charges the net during a recent match. He is 5-4 as the No. 2 singles and 7-2 with Tanner Hudman on the No. 1 doubles team.
By Raymundo Frasquillo
MORENCI – Since having the season opener with Benson rained out Feb. 22, Morenci’s tennis boys (7-2 seeding) topped Safford 7-2 on Feb. 26, Pima 8-1 on Feb. 28, Duncan 6-3 on March 7, Miami 6-3 on March 19, Pima 7-2 on March 26, Safford 7-2 on March 28, and Saint David 9-0 on March 29. The losses were 9-0 to Thatcher on March 5 and 5-4 to Willcox on March 21.
This week, the Wildcats travel to Benson on Tuesday, April 2, host Thatcher on Thursday, April 4, and head to the Miami Invitational on Friday, April 5.
Three duels remain in the regular season, each in Morenci, with the Wildcats hosting Benson on April 8 in a rescheduled Feb. 22 rainout, Duncan on April 9, and Willcox on April 16.
The Wildcats are 36-18 in singles and 18-9 in doubles through nine duels, including two forfeits in both singles and doubles.
In singles, No. 1 senior Tanner Hudman is 6-3, No. 2 senior Andrew Vigil 5-4, No. 3 senior Ryan Williams 5-4, No. 4 senior Seth Rodgers 6-2, No. 5 senior Mario Garcia 8-1, and No. 6 sophomore Shaun Espinosa 6-2.
In doubles, No. 1 Hudman – Vigil is 7-2, No. 2 Rodgers – Garcia 4-1, No. 3 Williams – Espinoza 5-1, Garcia – Espinoza 0-1, Williams – Garcia 1-1, and Espinoza – Rodgers 1-1.
Wildcats – 9, Saint David – 0
The Wildcats won all nine pairings with the Tigers in Saint David.
In singles, Hudman and Williams both posted 8-2 scores over senior Kaleb Watts and freshman Kaden Watts, respectively, while 8-0 scores were recorded by Vigil (over junior Thomas Haynie), Rodgers (over sophomore Takky Puripat), Garcia (over sophomore Jonathon McGrath), and Espinoza (over junior Noah Fry).
The Hudman – Vigil and Williams – Espinoza duos both prevailed 8-2 over Kaleb Watts – Haynie and Kaden Watts – McGrath, respectively, and Garcia – Rodgers defeated Puripat – Fry 8-1.
Safford – 2, Wildcats – 7
Morenci triumphed in five singles and two doubles pairings over the Bulldogs.
The singles wins were 6-4 and 6-3 by Hudman over senior Andrew Smith, 6-3 twice by Vigil over senior Epoch Fry, a 10-8 tie-breaker after 6-1 split sets by Rodgers over sophomore Emanuel Torres, 6-3 and 6-4 by Garcia over sophomore Grant Smith, plus 6-2 and 6-1 by Espinosa over sophomore Jacob Curtis.
In doubles, Rodgers – Garcia downed junior Issac Camarena – Torres 10-8 and Williams – Espinoza downed Grant Smith – Curtis 8-6.
For Safford, Camarena won a tie-breaker 10-8 after winning the second set 7-6 over Williams (won first set 6-4) and the Smith – Fry downed Hudman – Vigil 8-6.
Wildcats – 7, Pima – 2
The Wildcats won 5-of-6 singles and 2-of-3 doubles from the Roughriders.
After splitting sets, tie-breakers were won by Hudman (won 6-4, lost 6-1) 10-7 over senior Jeb Schysm and Williams (won 6-1, lost 6-4) 11-9 over sophomore Keanu Hansen.
The other singles wins were by Garcia (6-1, 6-4 over sophomore Jake Beals), Espinosa (6-3, 6-2 over sophomore Hunter Cluff), and Rodgers (6-1 twice over freshman Owen Lunt).
In doubles, Rodgers – Garcia downed Hansen – Beals 8-4 and Williams – Espinoza downed Cluff – Lunt 8-2.
Pima’s wins were by senior Daniel Medlin (7-5, 6-4 over Garcia) and Schysm – Medlin (8-4 over Hudman – Vigil).
