Making a racket: Week 2 in area high school tennis

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In the goal to see most, if not all of the Greater St. Helens League tennis teams at some point this season, I made flybys to the Evergreen and Union tennis courts this week.

I learned Evergreen is playing JV-only this season, which is why readers may not see their scores reported among the varsity results even though they remain on the schedule. All varsity teams playing Evergreen receive 6-0 forfeit wins as far as the team standings go.

Nevertheless, I focused my camera lens on the No. 1 singles match Monday between Evergreen’s Hayden Priebe and Mountain View’s Shiva Chetrri. Since the matches were JV, all were pro sets. Chetrri won the match 8-2. (Hint: Click on photos to make them BIGGER)

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Going to give a shout out to Fort Vancouver’s doubles team of Luis Figuero Valencia and Jonah Benavente. They won their match against Washougal 6-1, 6-3 on Monday to give the Trappers their first varsity point of the season. Since Fort has just four players, the challenge is big every match. Nice to see — even with their long odds — the Fort players giving it their all.

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How close were Skyview and Camas on Monday? Not only did the varsity match need to be decided on total games won, but so did the JV match. Skyview won both.

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Three stars of the day in Tuesday’s print edition went to tennis players who won three-set matches on Monday. Both of Columbia River’s victories against Union were very close three-set matches. Owen Carlson needed a third-set tiebreaker for his win at No. 1 singles, and Nathan Crary, at No. 2, came back from a set down for his win. (Union won the match 4-2.)

In the Skyview-Camas match, Camas No. 1 Jonathan Ho also came back from a set down and then won in the third 7-5.

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Union’s Zhengyi Chen was on the short end of Crary’s victory on Monday. On Wednesday it was a different match as he was playing No. 1 singles against Heritage’s Brandon Hatch. Zhengyi Chen won 6-1, 6-1.

Union dominated at No. 1 doubles with Alex Calpagiu and Bjorn Morfin, posting a 6-0, 6-0 win.

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Intriguing matchups coming up include: Mountain View at Camas on Monday, Sept. 22, Union at Mountain View on Wednesday, Sept. 24, and Prairie at Columbia River on Wednesday as well.

Prior to all that, Mountain View will be busy with some nonleague matches. Todd Beamer of Federal Way will play the Thunder on Friday at Club Green Meadows, and then stick around for Saturday’s Thunder Invitational also at Club Green Meadows. Olympia and Kentridge are also scheduled to participate in the tournament, which begins at 10:30 a.m.

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One other note from the week, Fort Vancouver coach Charles Hahn and his USTA/Pacific Northwest 8.0 Mixed 40-over doubles team from Vancouver Tennis Center won the Sectional title, played Sept. 12-14 in Sunriver, Ore. They swept a team from Seattle (3-0) in the final on Sunday. As Sectional champs, the VTC team qualifies for the USTA National tournament in Surprise, Ariz., Nov. 12-14.

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Any tennis news or notes to share? Email me at jeff.klein@columbian.com.