Tennis team opens up league play against Chelan

It was another busy week for the Cascade tennis team with matches against Chelan, Connell and Okanogan ahead of spring break. On March 27, Cascade hosted Chelan in their league opener.
The boys won 3-2, while the girls lost 4-1. The Cascade boys had not beaten Chelan in a very long time, so it was very exciting, according to Cascade Head Coach Mark Hassinger.
Number one Finn Johnson was upended by Micah Larsen 6-3, 6-4.
“Finn put up a good fight but just came up short. Finn’s always got the toughest assignment on the team playing number one singles. He has a great attitude and always fights right to the end. He is looking forward to playing Micah again as it was a close match and he really thinks he could beat him. Finn’s game has come a long way this year,” Hassinger said.
At number two singles, Dylan Kuehni won stiff three set battle against Wyatt Habich. Dylan lost the first set, but came back in the second set with few adjustments. Hassinger said he was a different player, playing with more confidence and trusting his shots.
Kuehni won the second set 7-5, then pulled out the win 6-4 in the third set.
“He was on the court for long time and was exhausted when he was done. That was a great victory and boost for the boys team,” Hassinger said.
Sam Keziah won at number three singles over Tobin Weir. Hassinger said Sam did not have his “A” game with him early on. He lost the first set 6-2. Keziah settled down and won the second set 6-3 and the third set 6-4.
“Suddenly the boys were up 2-1 and just needed to pick up one more victory to seal the team win.   Chelan always has great doubles teams and I knew it was going to be tough to beat them,” Hassinger said.
Cascade picked up the match win with a victory in number one doubles with two brand new players to the game, Giovanni Luchesi and Arthur Drake, who had never picked up a racket before this year.
They beat Alex Gavin and Tyler Higgins 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (tie breaker).  
“I couldn’t believe how hard they fought and showed mental toughness. They had no idea what a sweet win this was for the team but I did. I can’t believe how much they have improved already.
they call me every weekend to get to the ball machine and buckets of balls. They play for hours on the weekends and it’s paying off,” Hassinger said.
James Dickinson and Treat Schubert, who had never played together, were given the tough task of playing Eli Phelps and Steven Williams. They lost 6-1, 6-0.
“I’m sure Chelan will be anxious to play us again but we will be ready as well,” Hassinger said.  
The only girl to win on the girls’ side was Maddie Vandel, who won 6-3, 6-2 in number three singles. Number two singles, Kolby Hunt, was on the court for three hours, eventually losing 4-6, 6-4, 6-7.
“The third set tiebreaker looked like it was going to go in Kolby’s favor but Sydney Hawkins hung in there and pulled it out.  I felt very bad for Kolby because she fought so hard and came up on the short end of things,” Hassinger said.
Cascade returns the court on April 10 with a home match against Cashmere.
Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.