Tiger team improving, but falls in three matches

In a busy week of tennis last week the Mountain Home Tigers battled tough, but failed to come up with any team wins.

Kuna Girls 6 Tiger Girls 1

Kuna Boys 6 Tiger Boys 1

The Tigers traveled to Kuna on April 13 where they found the going tough against the Kavemen netters, losing both the girls and boys competition by 6-1 scores.

For the Tiger girls, Natalie Lasher picked up the only win, winning the #2 girls singles match, 7-5, 6-3.

Brittany Ryan lost the #1 singles, 2-6, 1-6, and Danielle Lord lost the #3 match, 1-6, 1-6.

In girls doubles, Amy Hymer and Chandler Cain lost the #1match, 5-7, 3-6, and Allyanna Wintermote and Danielle Gorman lost the #2 match in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6.

For the boys, the only win came in the #1 doubles match, where Keth Galloway and Greg Walsh won easily, 6-0, 6-1.

The #2 doubles team of Drew Guyer and Shane Mosley lost 3-6, 0-6.

The Tigers lost all three boys singles matches, Andrew Martin losing the #1 match, 3-6, 0-6, Chris Oswald lost the #2 match, 1-6, 2-6, and Bryan Wheeler lost at #3, 3-6, 0-6.

Mountain Home also dropped both mixed doubles matches, Collin Smith and Ali Draper losing the #1 match, 6-7 (TB 3-7), 0-6, and Frankie Wenner and Daniella Stratton lost the #2 match, 0-6, 2-6.

Emmett Girls 5 Tiger Girls 2

Emmett Boys 5 Tiger Boys 2

In a make-up of a match that got rained out earlier, Mountain Home lost to Emmett 5-2 in both boys and girls action on April 14.

The two Mountain Home girls wins came in singles matches, as Natalie Lasher won the #1 singles match 7-5, 1-6, 7-5, and Hanna Smith, after dropping the first set, 3-6, was ahead 4-0 in the second set when her opponent had to retire due to an injury, giving Hanna the win.

Danielle Lord lost the #2 singles match, 2-6, 2-6.

In girls doubles, Allyanna Wintermote and Danielle Gorman lost the #1 match, 6-7 (TB), 3-6, and Bridget Sinerius and Shelby Sloan lost the #2 match, 2-6, 3-6.

Chris Oswald picked up one of the Tiger boys' wins, winning the #2 singles match, 6-4, 6-3. Andrew Martin dropped the #1 singles match in a close three-setter, 5-7, 6-3, 5-7, and Ross Pataro lost at #3, 5-7, 3-6.

The Tiger boys other win came in the #2 doubles match, when Chris Austin and Bryan Wheeler won, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (TB 7-1). Keth Galloway and Greg Walsh lost a close 6-7 (TB 2-7), 6-7 (TB 4-7) match in the #1 doubles.

The Tigers dropped both mixed doubles matches, Collin Smith and Ali Draper losing the #1 match, 0-6, 1-6, and Frankie Wenner and Daniella Stratton lost the #2 match, 1-6, 2-6.

Columbia Girls 7 Tiger Girls 0

Columbia Boys 5 Tiger Boys 2

The Tigers hosted Columbia on the base courts last Thursday, and lost to the Wildcats in both the girls and boys matches.

The girls got blanked by Columbia. Brittany Ryan lost the #1 singles match, 2-6, 2-6, Natalie Lasher lost the #2 match, 3-6, 4-6, and Danielle Lord lost the #3 match, 1-6, 0-6.

In #1 girls doubles, Amy Hymer and Ali Draper lost, 4-6, 3-6, and Allyanna Wintermote and Danielle Gorman lost the #2 match, 5-7, 1-6.

Chris Oswald earned a win for the Tiger boys in the #2 singles match, 6-3, 6-3. Andrew Martin dropped the #1 singles match, 1-6, 0-6, and Ross Pataro lost the #3 singles in three sets, with the third set played as a 10-point match tie-break, 6-3, 5-7, 2-10.

Mountain Home's other win was the #1 boys doubles match, where Keth Galloway and Greg Walsh won, 6-0, 6-4. Chris Austin and Collin Smith lost the #2 doubles match in three, 3-6, 6-1, 4-6.

Mountain Home dropped both mixed doubles matches, Tomas Garza and Jennifer Loomis dropping the #1 match, 0-6, 1-6, and Drew Guyer and Bridget Sinerius battling close before losing 4-6, 3-6 in the #2 match.

The Community School Girls 6 Tiger Girls 1

The Community School Boys 7 Tiger Boys 0

The Tigers hosted The Community School of Sun Valley Ketchum last Friday, and lost to the Cutthroats in both the girls and boys matches.

Mountain Home's only win of the day came in the #2 girls singles match where Natalie Lasher breezed to a 6-0, 6-0 win.

Brittany Ryan lost the #1 singles match in three sets, the third set a 10-point match tie-break, 2-6, 6-3, 2-10. Danielle Lord lost the #3 match, 0-6, 1-6.

The girls doubles teams both lost. Amy Hymer and Ali Draper lost the #1 match in three sets, 5-7, 6-4, the third set a 10-point match tie-break, 5-10, and Allyanna Wintermote and Danielle Gorman dropped the #2 match, 1-6, 0-6.

Andrew Martin dropped the #1 boys singles match, 1-6, 1-6, Ross Pataro dropped the #2 match, 0-6, 2-6, and Bryan Wheeler lost the #3 match, 2-6, 0-6.

Mountain Home battled tough in the boys doubles matches, but lost them both in the third set 10-point tie-break format. Keth Galloway and Greg Walsh lost the #1 match, 2-6, 6-4, 9-100, and Chris Austin and Collin Smith lost the #2 match, 6-0, 6-7 (TB 4-7), 2-10.

Both mixed doubles teams lost, with Drew Guyer and Bridget Sinerius losing the #1 match, 1-6, 0-6, and Justin Rogow and Hanna Smith losing the #2 match, 0-6, 0-6.

"The 10-point third set tie-break is used to shorten the match if time is a constraint," said Tiger tennis coach Tamzy House. "The Community School's coaches were concerned about traveling Highway 20 back to Sun Valley late at night. If we had the chance to play a full third set, I feel we might have pulled out some wins.

"It was a great learning experience to do the 10-point match tie-break format, which is not often played in high school tennis, but it does present some mental and tactical game challenges -- definitely something we need to work on in practice -- but overall, it was a great tennis day."

Despite not winning any matches last week, Coach House is excited about the improvement the team is making.

"We have been able to pick up a few individual match wins, but have not been able to put together a team win. Results-wise, we are right on track considering about two-thirds of the team members are brand new to tennis.

"The skill progression from one match to the next is exciting to watch. Two months ago many of the members did not know how to hold the racquet, and now they are forcing their opponents to really work hard to get a win, or they're taking the opponent down in close matches."