April may be known for its showers, but it began with a quick set of three matches for the Bobcat boys’ tennis team.
Returning to Beaver’s home courts, fighting for a playoff position, Beaver took on the Beaver Falls April 2. The Bobcats had the brooms ready for the 5-0 Bobcat sweep of the troubled Tigers.
Defending Bobcat territory the next day, the boys hosted Ambridge April 3. Beaver served the competition a 4-1 victory. Winning for the Cats were first singles Kane Mateer, second singles Alex Young, third singles Jeffery Allison, and second doubles Tyler King and Braden Sistek.
The next challenge for Bobcat tennis was Central Valley again at Beaver’s Gypsy Glen courts April 4. Sadly the boys lost 3-2, although the Beaver doubles teams were able to secure their wins: first doubles Gilbert Hankinson and Sammy Kissick, and second doubles King and Sistek.
Taking a break from the traditional schedule was the section singles tournament at Pearson Park (north of Ellwood City) April 8-9. First singles Mateer and second singles Young represented Beaver at the tournament.
Young, facing a tough Central Valley opponent was eliminated in the first round. However, Mateer’s strong performance carried him to an impressive third place finish in the tournament.
Back to section play, the boys hit the road and traveled to Quaker Valley’s courts April 10 as the Bobcats took on the number-one ranked Quakers. The Bobcats took a heavy hit as they lost 5-0. The Cats knew they were in for a tough match when they saw QV’s pregame warmup ritual, matching uniform shorts . . . and matching hats.
Beaver tennis was on another road trip, this time to Neshannock High school, April 17. This being the last section game made it a do-or-die situation for the Bobcats to make playoffs. But sadly the Cats’ playoff dreams were crushed in a heartfelt defeat 3-2. But looking at the glass half full first singles Mateer and second doubles King and Sistek won their matches.
“We had a pretty good season this year, Sammy and I went 4-4, and we had a lot of great memories from the bus rides and practice. My favorite memory was playing tennis four square at practice, and [first-year team member] Brody Cully announcing all of our names wrong before each game,” explained senior first doubles Hankinson.
Without a playoff berth, the section doubles tournament at Blackhawk’s courts April 24 signaled the tail end of the tennis season. Representing Beaver for the tournament was team one Hankinson and Mateer and team two Kissick and Sistek.
Bobcats’ team two was unfortunately eliminated in the first round by the Ambridge Bridgers leaving team one to soldier on alone.
Team one survived the first round with no sweat as they were granted a bye round. In the following match they defeated Elwood City’s first-doubles team. So this meant they would move on to face the challenging Central Valley team. Team one ended up losing this match sending Beaver home with nothing but fuel to rebuild for next year’s season.
“Overall we had a good season. Our section was strong this year, and we just missed playoffs. Plus, five of seven starters were underclassmen, but we were still competitive in every match,” stated legendary Coach Riley Baker.
So watch out next season . . .