TENNERTON – The Buckhannon-Upshur tennis Bucs continue to be impressive in the first half of their season as they recorded two more victories last week.
On Tuesday, the Bucs easily disposed of Liberty at home by a 7-0 verdict and then picked up another key win over regional foe University on the road Wednesday by a 5-2 score.
Against Liberty, getting doubles wins were Aden Pitts and Caden Andrick at No. 1 (8-0), Mauricio Menendez and Hank Phillips at No. 2 (by forfeit) and Jude Snyder and Donovan Cutlip at No. 3 (9-7).
The team never lost a point to Liberty as Pitts at No. 1, Andrick at No. 2, Menendez at No. 3 and Phillips at No. 4 all won by 8-0 scores.
“I was pleased we got the clean sweep,” Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Jason Rock said. “Jude stepped up to No. 3 doubles and did his part. Donovan was by far the best player on that No. 3 doubles court, and he had some great shots as well.”
Against the Hawks, the Bucs earned just one doubles win, as Pitts and Andrick downed Andrew McClellan and Andrew Lerfald by an 8-3 score.
The Bucs swept singles action as Pitts won at No. 1 (8-4), Andrick at No. 2 (8-0), Menendez at No. 3 (8-3) and Phillips at No. 4 (8-1).
“We went from 40 degrees against a young Liberty team to playing a talented University squad in the upper 70s, so it was a strange turnaround for us,” noted Rock. “The boys handled it well and pulled out the win. I was happy with the fight Mauricio and Hank put up at No. 2 doubles. They were down 6-1 and fought back to 6-6.”
“Ultimately, the other team was just a little better those last few games,” Rock added, “but they showed that they are a good doubles team and I think they proved to themselves that they can definitely beat those guys in the future if they show up on the other side of the net at regionals.”
The Bucs remained perfect on the year and improved to 6-0 on the season. Their outing with Fairmont Senior on Thursday was postponed.
They will be back on the courts Monday at John Marshall and will return home Wednesday to host North Marion.
The results:
Buckhannon-Upshur 7 Liberty 0
Singles
No. 1 – Aden Pitts (B-U) def. Devon Prunty (8-0)
No. 2 – Caden Andrick (B-U) def. Isaac Ash (8-0)
No. 3 – Mauricio Menendez (B-U) def. Tony Goots (8-0)
No. 4 – Hank Phillips (B-U) def. Eli Morrison (8-0)
Doubles
No. 1 – Pitts and Andrick (B-U) def. Prunty and Goots (8-0)
No. 2 – Menendez and Phillips (B-U) won by forfeit
No. 3 – Jude Snyder and Donovan Cutlip (B-U) def. Eli Morrison and Quintavious Williams (9-7)
Buckhannon-Upshur 5 University 2
Singles
No. 1 – Aden Pitts (B-U) def. Andrew McClellan (8-4)
No. 2 – Caden Andrick (B-U) def. Salah Abunnaja (8-0)
No. 3 – Mauricio Menendez (B-U) def. Andrew Lerfald (8-3)
No. 4 – Hank Phillips (B-U) def. Julian Stealey (8-1)
Doubles
No. 1 – Pitts and Andrick (B-U) def. McClellan and Lerfald (8-3)
No. 2 – Abunnaja and Stealey (UHS) def. Menendez and Phillips (8-6)
No. 3 – Owen Minchau and Andrew Rosanna (UHS) def. Tommy Swift and Donovan Cutlip (8-1)
