MORGANTOWN – The Buckhannon-Upshur boys’ and girls’ tennis teams competed in the Region 1 team portion of their tournament last week.

The Bucs dropped a 7-0 decision to University in Morgantown while the Lady Bucs lost a 6-1 outing to Bridgeport in Bridgeport.

“This was the first round of regionals for the team competition,” explained Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Jason Rock. “They are being played early to eliminate some of the wear and tear on athletes during the individual and doubles seeded tournament that starts later this week. We were the lower seed on both the boys and girls brackets so we had to travel.”

Despite the Bucs not winning an outing against University, Rock had high praise for his No. 3 doubles team of Cody Trainer and Jacob Ham.

“I think Trainer and Ham are by far the most improved doubles pair on the team,” stated Rock. “They have gotten better and better at hitting the ball and moving to the right places to cover the court. They always “leave it all” on the court and play hard every match. I also thought Matthew Adams played a great match at No. 2 singles and had some impressive shots.”

The lone victory for the girls against Bridgeport was Madelyn Frye and Mya Critchfield at No. 2 doubles, with the duo winning a hard fought 9-7 decision over Sofia Dannunzio and Caroline Deniker.

“I’m really proud of Frye and Critchfield,” remarked Rock. “Those two have very different personalities and playing styles but when you put them together on a court, they both fight for every ball and play good doubles. Some of our junior varsity girls got to play as well in unofficial singles and doubles matches and I’m really excited for the future of the girls’ program if they all play and work in the offseason.”

Both teams will now move onto the regional singles and doubles tournament this Thursday and Friday in Morganton. Thursday’s first-round action will begin at 9 a.m.