Apaches racket up wins to start tennis season

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The Gonzales Apaches traveled to San Marcos last Friday to participate in a compass draw tournament. In boys’ singles, Matthew Grauke finished third in the boys’ single A consolation bracket while Nick Espinoza placed fourth in the boys’ single B bracket.

Grauke was immediately tested early on, playing the number one see and losing in straight sets (0-6, 0-6) to Diego De La Fuente from Lehman. After the loss, Grauke beat Chico Wagner from New Braunfels Canyon (8-2), lost to Ruven Torres from San Marcos (3-8) and finished with a win over San Marcos’ Chris Velasquez (8-3).

“Matthew faced some very tough competitors,” head tennis coach Sarah Kennedy said, “and the scores can’t paint the picture of the amount of effort and fierceness [that] went into every match he played. He finished on a high note and set the bar high for the rest of the season. The last match was one of the best he has played yet and he truly earned the win.”

Meanwhile, Espinoza had a first and second round bye, then he opened with a win over New Braunfels Canyon’s Michael Buley (7-6, 4-6, 6-2). He then lost to James Cruz from Hays (1-6, 1-6) and then to Lehman’s Nick Spurk (0-8).

“Nick competed and fought hard,” Kennedy noted, “he saw some tough competition and got in a lot of playing time.”

On Tuesday, the entire team had a dual meet against Cuero, with the Apaches taking a 12-7 win.

As Kennedy describes it, a dual match is set up to where both teams arrange their athletes by ladder position, meaning their top players face each other, their number two’s play each other, etc.

“Each team has a minimum of seven boys and seven girls” she explained, “six singles matches are played and three double matches played for both boys and girls and one mixed doubles match is played. Singles players can also compete in one doubles matches, but are not required.”

In boys’ singles, four of the six athletes who competed came away with wins. Matthew Grauke beat Donny Cardenas 8-2, Jacob Burek beat Calvert Green 8-3, Cody Oakes beat Tom Vandeveer 8-0 and Brandon Gomez beat Ben Villareal 8-3. Nick Espinoza lost to Mitchell Green 4-8 while Caden Low lost to Jace Staats 5-8.

On the girls’ side, four girls took wins and three took close losses.

Madalin Kocian lost to Raylynn Hendrick 10-7 in the tiebreaker.

“[It was] a great match with two very well-matched tennis players,” Kennedy said. “Every game was close and very hard fought. Madalin exhibited strength at the net and speed all over the court. A great match to look forward to at district.”

Meanwhile Valeria Aguayo took down Maddie Etlinger 8-5, Chelsea McCauley lost to Mia Knetig 4-8, Caitlyn Stern beat Dana Mican 8-6, Sylvia Hernandez beat Jade Cuellar 8-6 and Mei Williamson lost to Moreno 4-8 in what Kennedy described was after “a few very close games.”

The boys’ doubles team of Burek/Low beat Green/Green 8-5 while Grauke/Oakes took down Cardenas/Vandeveer 8-3. Sebastian Cristian/Brandon Gomez took a 3-7 loss in the tiebreak game to Staats/Villarreal.

The girls’ doubles team of McCauley/Stern won the tiebreak 10-3 against Albrect/Knetig. Meanwhile Aguayo/Kocian beat Mican/Moreno 9-7. The team of Hernandez/Williamson lost to Etlinger/Hendrick 1-8.

In mixed doubles, Eli Whitescarver/Roma Gallardo beat Cuellar/Vandeveer 8-2.

“This was a great dual match and allowed everyone a chance to see more district competitors,” Kennedy said. “We will more than likely see them again at the Goliad tournament in March.

The dual meet also provided a new experience for the Apaches tennis team as they competed more as a team earning points instead of what is deemed as “individual tennis.”

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