Boys split with Casper raqueteers and girls edged by Kelly Walsh

The Powell High School boys tennis team split its matches with Casper’s high schools on Saturday, winning four of five against Natrona County while falling by the same margin to Kelly Walsh.

The girls, meanwhile, found more success against Kelly Walsh, taking two of five matches in a competitive dual. The Lady Panthers were swept by a Natrona County squad that Head Coach Ray Bieber calls “probably the best girls team in the state.”

The boys’ No. 2 doubles team of Marshall McArthur and Justin Lynn — who Bieber said are “really coming around” — won both of their Saturday matches.

“For us we’ve got to keep improving and keep on getting better,” said Bieber, adding, “It takes us a while to realize we can play with these teams and once we realize it, things are going to be different.”

No. 1 singles player Eric Curtis opened the day with a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Kelly Walsh’s Adam Katz, but he turned the tables on Natrona County’s Mike Orcutt, winning 6-1, 6-1. The senior is now 6-2 on the year.

Shohei Soto fell 6-4, 6-4 to Kelly Walsh’s Brady Griffin and 6-4, 6-2 to Natrona County’s Leland Dexter, who Bieber said was probably Soto’s toughest competition of the year.

The No. 1 doubles duo of Ashton Soloai and Todd Lewis were trumped 6-1, 6-2 by their Kelly Walsh counterparts, but they rebounded against Natrona County, winning 6-3, 6-4.

“It was a really good win for first doubles,” said Bieber. “We were really happy for them.”

At No. 2 doubles, McArthur and Lynn had an undefeated weekend to push their record to 6-2 on the season. They won 6-3, 6-4 and 6-3, 6-2 over Kelly Walsh and Natrona County, respectively.

Matt Brown and Sam Prestwich were beaten 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 3 doubles match against Kelly Walsh, but they took down Natrona County later in the day, 6-4, 6-3.

After a rough first set, BreaAnn Hollenbeck mounted a big comeback to beat Kelly Walsh’s Raeghan Rudkin, 0-6, 7-5, 6-3. Hollenbeck fell 6-2, 6-2 to Natrona County’s Regan Hendrick in the afternoon.

At No. 2 singles, Emily Kath thumped Kelly Walsh’s Kaitlin Booth 6-1, 6-1, before playing “really good” but coming up short against N.C.’s Jayde Parmely, 6-2, 6-4, Bieber said.

In a close match, Lacey Eckerdt and Leya Goette fell to the No. 1 doubles team from Kelly Walsh, 7-5, 6-4, then also played Natrona County close, falling 6-2, 7-5.

The No. 2 doubles team, Sheridan Roling and Cydney Barrus, lost 6-3, 6-4 to Kelly Walsh and 6-1, 6-0 to Natrona County.

At No. 3 doubles, Kim Moore and Marisa Sanders took 6-3, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-2 defeats to K.W. and N.C., respectively.

Powell had its last home match of the year Tuesday. (see related story).

The tennis squads will hit the road for likely challenging matches in Sheridan (4 p.m. Friday) and Gillette (9 a.m. Saturday).

“We’ve just got to keep doing the best we can,” said Bieber.

PHS tennis teams show improvement

The Powell High School tennis teams showed significant improvement in a Tuesday rematch against Cody, though the Broncs and Fillies came away 5-0 and 4-1 victories.

Unlike a Sept. 1 match-up, where PHS dropped 20 straight sets, the hosting Panthers and Lady Panthers won six sets this week. They won 75 games versus 51 the first time around.

Senior BreaAnn Hollenbeck staked a win at No. 1 singles for the girls.

“We just continue to show ourselves that we can play up to the level in most places, so I was pretty happy with that,” said PHS Head Coach Ray Bieber, saying the competitive matches show “that we’re making good progress.”

He said Cody is one of the best teams in the state.

Hollenbeck narrowly dropped the first set 7-6(5) to Cody’s Sharron Davis, but came back to win 6-2 and 7-5 in the second and third sets.

At No. 2 singles, Emily Kath pushed Morgan Baker of Cody to three sets before falling 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Lacey Eckerdt and Leya Goette lost 6-2, 7-5 at No. 1 doubles, Sheridan Roling and Cydney Barrus fell 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles and Kim Moore and Marisa Sanders were on the short end of a 6-3, 6-1 decision at No. 3 doubles.

The boys gave themselves a chance to win the dual, with three matches that went to a third set, but couldn’t capitalize.

No. 1 singles player Eric Curtis went three sets with Cody’s Shad Moir, losing 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.

Shohei Soto, playing at No. 2 singles, also took his Cody counterpart, Stephan Munari, to a tiebreaker set, but lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-0. Similarly, Ashton Soloai and Todd Lewis had a 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-2 defeat at No. 1 doubles.

Marshall McArthur and Justin Lynn lost 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles and Matt Brown and Sam Prestwich fell 6-1, 6-4.

Nearly all of the PHS players had improved results as compared to the prior Powell-Cody match-up.

“That’s what we’re looking for so then eventually, hopefully when we go to regionals and state ... the third time’s hopefully the charm (against Cody),” Bieber said.

Though happy with the improvement, the coach noted that too many losses will lead to a tough seeding at regionals.

“But we’re still in pretty good shape in most of our positions,” he said.

The Powell squads play in Sheridan at 4 p.m. Friday and in Gillette at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Bieber said Sheridan has a particularly strong girls team, while Gillette has a strong boys squad.

PHS tennis teams show improvement

The Powell High School tennis teams showed significant improvement in a Tuesday rematch against Cody, though the Broncs and Fillies came away 5-0 and 4-1 victories.

Unlike a Sept. 1 match-up, where PHS dropped 20 straight sets, the hosting Panthers and Lady Panthers won six sets this week. They won 75 games versus 51 the first time around.

Senior BreaAnn Hollenbeck staked a win at No. 1 singles for the girls.

“We just continue to show ourselves that we can play up to the level in most places, so I was pretty happy with that,” said PHS Head Coach Ray Bieber, saying the competitive matches show “that we’re making good progress.”

He said Cody is one of the best teams in the state.

Hollenbeck narrowly dropped the first set 7-6(5) to Cody’s Sharron Davis, but came back to win 6-2 and 7-5 in the second and third sets.

At No. 2 singles, Emily Kath pushed Morgan Baker of Cody to three sets before falling 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Lacey Eckerdt and Leya Goette lost 6-2, 7-5 at No. 1 doubles, Sheridan Roling and Cydney Barrus fell 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles and Kim Moore and Marisa Sanders were on the short end of a 6-3, 6-1 decision at No. 3 doubles.

The boys gave themselves a chance to win the dual, with three matches that went to a third set, but couldn’t capitalize.

No. 1 singles player Eric Curtis went three sets with Cody’s Shad Moir, losing 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.

Shohei Soto, playing at No. 2 singles, also took his Cody counterpart, Stephan Munari, to a tiebreaker set, but lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-0. Similarly, Ashton Soloai and Todd Lewis had a 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-2 defeat at No. 1 doubles.

Marshall McArthur and Justin Lynn lost 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles and Matt Brown and Sam Prestwich fell 6-1, 6-4.

Nearly all of the PHS players had improved results as compared to the prior Powell-Cody match-up.

“That’s what we’re looking for so then eventually, hopefully when we go to regionals and state ... the third time’s hopefully the charm (against Cody),” Bieber said.

Though happy with the improvement, the coach noted that too many losses will lead to a tough seeding at regionals.

“But we’re still in pretty good shape in most of our positions,” he said.

The Powell squads play in Sheridan at 4 p.m. Friday and in Gillette at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Bieber said Sheridan has a particularly strong girls team, while Gillette has a strong boys squad.