The Alleghany Mountaineers varsity Tennis team begins the second half of their season tomorrow with a trip to Radford to take on the Radford Bobcats.
The Mounties enter the second half with a record of 6-2. The team lost their previous match at home against the Riverheads Gladiators 5-4. The team nearly rallied from being down 4-0 and cut the match to 4-3 before the Gladiators hung on and won a doubles match to seal the victory.
The biggest takeaway from their match against the Gladiators was the teams toughness to not give up and back down despite having their backs against the wall being down 4-0. The two schools had met nearly two weeks prior where the Gladiators had shutout the Mounties 9-0, which was also the teams first loss of the season.
One way to look at the Mounties loss to the Gladiators, is that it was also a win at the same time. Mounties head coach, Seth Davis, said that the team showed more mental toughness in their match against the Gladiators the second time around. He was also happy with the fundamentals of the team as he felt they were gradually improving as well.
Now at 6-2, the team will look to carry that momentum they had at the end of the match against the Gladiators into their first match of the second half with the Bobcats.
The Bobcats finished in the state semifinals. The team is currently 2-0.
“We have all district teams left and from top to bottom, the Three Rivers District is better than the Blue Ridge (District). We have to continue to be better. Radford was in the state semi’s last year and they lost one starter”, said head coach, Seth Davis.
In the second half of the season, all of the Mounties matches will be against the schools in Three Rivers District.
“Floyd (County) will be decent and although Glenvar lost their two best players, they have talent. Carroll (County) is rebuilding, but we can’t afford to take anyone lightly. We have to keep working and be tough”, added head coach, Seth Davis, on the opponents the team will face in the second half.
The Mounties doubles teams have performed very well this season with an overall record of 20-4. The four losses of course coming to the Gladiators. Across the last several matches for the Mounties, the team has shaken up doubles partners.
“We’ll stick with out doubles lineup for now. I’m not ruling out any changes in the future, but I want the guys to continue to improve together. We do experiment with different partners in practice, so we’ll be ready if there are any injuries. Flexibility is important”, added head coach, Seth Davis, on the doubles teams going forward.
Senior, Coree Nicely, has been sensational all season long. Nicely, has one loss in each singles and in doubles. In singles matches, Nicely, has a teams best record of 7-1, while in his doubles his doubles teams are 6-1.
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