The Glendale Falcons (1-0) took care of business Monday on their home court to get off to a nice start to the 2016 season by defeating Catholic (2-1) 7-2.
Tennis fans were able to get a look at the Falcons top newcomer this year in freshman Reid Jarvis, who has already taken over the No. 1 singles spot as a ninth grader.
Jarvis’ first matchup of his varsity tennis career wouldn’t be an easy task as he had to face a state qualifier from a year ago and friend, sophomore Jasen Nayer.
Jarvis got off to a hot start by going up 4-1 to start the match, but Nayer didn’t go away.
Nayer was able to break Jarvis, and then managed to hold serve to go down 3-4 heading into the next changeover. Jarvis took control by holding serve and breaking Nayer to hold on to a 6-3 lead, and would eventually hold on to win 8-3.
“I’ve known him (Jasen) for awhile now, and I knew going into it that it would be a tough match for me to win,” Jarvis said. “This was my first varsity singles match so I kind of felt a little pressure walking onto the court, but I just tried my best and played my game.”
Jarvis said he used a certain tactic to pull out a win.
“We know each other styles of play, but I thought I really used the wind to my advantage," he said. "I’m pretty good with the wind on my side and I took full advantage of it.”
Glendale managed to win five out of six singles matches which included wins from Hayden Fulk over Ethan Chanlongco 8-2. Spencer Weller defeated Adam Chanlongco 8-0. Alec Jarvis defeated Cooper Croley 8-2, and Zhilin Huang defeated Keegan Randell 8-6. Catholic’s Ryan Miller defeated Zach Smalling 9-7.
The winners in doubles included Glendale’s number one doubles team of Reid Jarvis and Spencer Weller over Jasen Nayer and Ryan Miller 8-1, and the Falcons number two doubles team of Hayden Fulk and Alec Jarvis over Ethan and Adam Chanliongco 8-0. Catholic’s number three doubles team of Keegan Randell and Cooper Croley defeated Zach Smalling and Ben Collins 9-7.
Glendale head tennis coach Bob Cooper had high praise for his seniors and the opposition.
“Whenever you have three seniors playing at your 2-4 spots it makes it easier to coach,” Cooper said. “Those guys have been around for four years, and want to finish their careers out strong.
“Catholic is a strong team who has already played multiple matches this season coming into today, and they have a very good number one. So I was pleased to come out with a 7-2 victory.”
Catholic will next host Parkview at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
Glendale will next host Joplin at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
High school, boys’ tennis
GLENDALE 7, CATHOLIC 2 on Monday, at Cooper Tennis Complex
Varsity singles
1. Reid Jarvis def. Jasen Naymer (8-3)
2. Hayden Fulk def. Ethan Chanliongco (8-2)
3. Spencer Weller def. Adam Chanliongco (8-0)
4. Alec Jarvis def. Cooper Croley (8-2)
5. Zhilin Huang def. Keegan Randell (8-6)
6. Ryan Miller def. Zach Smalling (9-7)
Varsity doubles
1. Jarvis/Weller def. Nayer/Miller (8-1)
2. Fulk/Jarvis def. Chanliongco/Chanliongco (8-0)
3. Randell/Croley def. Smalling/Collins (9-7)
