Cheney tennis takes fourth in Post Falls tournament

The Cheney High boys' tennis team had a rocky start to the Great Northern League portion of their regular season with a 6-1 loss against co-defending champion Pullman, April 11.

"We knew they were going to be strong," head coach Jesse Erickson said. "They didn't lose much in terms of strong players from last year."

The boys and girls teams also took a break from regular season action and competed in the April 14 Post Falls Tournament where the Blackhawks finished fourth out of six teams with 108 points.

Against Pullman, No. 3 singles Eric Van Wig picked up the only win for the Blackhawks, defeating Chris Park (6-3, 6-1).

"Eric had a great win, he played really smart," Erickson said.

Lack of eligible players for the contest hurt Cheney as they had to forfeit the No. 4 singles and No. 3 doubles matches.

"We're looking forward to playing them again," Erickson said. "It's going to be a closer match, especially since we'll have a full team next time."

At the Post Falls tournament, Dixon Gerber finished in fourth place as he lost to Sandpoint's Koen Conner (5-4) in the third-place match. Erickson said Gerber showed "quick hands" and was "very aggressive throughout the day, attacking the net early and often." Van Wig took seventh in the same bracket.

In doubles, Jesse Black and Saul Bautista went 1-3. Logan Ray and Jared Allen also went 1-3, with their only win coming against Black and Bautista.

"It was great experience for both teams," Erickson said. "The more matches you have under your belt, the better you're going to be."

The mixed doubles team of Aaron Fillmore and Taylor Passey finished sixth while Hunter Pohl and Nika Kauwe were seventh.

Erickson said Pohl and Kauwe "served well and got great angles on their volleys." He also was impressed with Fillmore and Passey, who he said showed great communication and court movement in their first tournament as a team.

"I was surprised with how well they did," he added.

Cheney (0-1 GNL, 2-2 overall), fourth in the league standings, traveled to Clarkston (2-0, 3-1) for a league match, April 19. They host East Valley (1-0, 1-2) in a GNL contest tonight (April 20). The Bantams, who are at the top of the league, began GNL action with wins against West Valley (0-2, 1-3) and Pullman (1-1, 2-3). They came into the Cheney match with a 5-2 win against 3A Greater Spokane League's Mt. Spokane.

The Knights were scheduled to play the Greyhounds two days before their contest against the Blackhawks.

"Hopefully we can carry that momentum to Clarkston and against East Valley," Erickson said.

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].