The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Hornet tennis tackles tough opponents
Losses to Novi, Troy donít hurt improvement, Bedell says
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: April 19, 2007
The Saline boys' tennis team didn't have their best week in the win-loss column after losing dual meets to No. 4 Novi Tuesday and a solid Troy team Monday.
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But that shouldn't obscure the fact that the Hornets are playing and improving just as well as expected, said head coach Andy Bedell.
"We had a lot of close, three-set matches that could have gone either way," he said. "We just have to work on closing out our matches and cutting down on the unforced errors."
Before the Novi and Troy defeats, Saline had also posted a solid performance at the Okemos Invitational the previous Saturday. The Hornets won at least one match in all eight flights on their way to 12 points and a tie for fourth.
"We've been playing that tournament for about 10 years, and I believe that was the best finish we've had there yet," Bedell said.
The performance was highlighted by a pair of singles wins over talented Ann Arbor Greenhills players that are expected to challenge for state titles in Division 4. No. 1 singles player Andrew Musbach won in three sets, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2, while No. 3 singles player D.J. Geiger won 6-3, 7-6 (4).
"Even if they're playing in Division 4, those were both very good tennis players they defeated," Bedell said.
Also netting wins in Okemos were No. 2 singles player Andrew Ahadi, No. 4 singles player Peter Spittler, No. 1 doubles team David Janego and Andrew Tasso, No. 2 doubles team Alan Barnes and Matt Bernard, No. 3 doubles team Jeff Hampton and Michael Ho, and No. 4 doubles team Amit Sachdava and Aaron Bolton.
On the road against Troy Monday, Saline not only had to deal with their opponents but with 30 mile-per-hour winds that made playing conditions "ridiculous," according to Bedell. The Hornets would go on to lose 5-3, but Bedell feels his team will be more than capable of winning the teams' upcoming rematch in normal conditions.
Winning their matches in the Troy match were Barnes and Bernard, 6-4, 6-3; Ahadi, 6-4, 6-0; and Spittler, 6-0, 6-1.
Against Novi, Musbach and the No. 2 doubles team each forced their Wildcat opponents into a third set, but in the end Ahadi grabbed the only win as Novi prevailed 7-1.
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