The Shadow
A man down, Alleghany battled to the end Monday at Clifton Middle School.
Minus No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles player Chris Tingler, the Mountaineers fell short to Northside in a first round Class 3, Region D boys tennis match, 5-2.
“Our guys battled hard, but we really missed Chris Tingler, who was out with an illness,” said AHS coach Seth Davis. “He wanted to go, he just couldn’t.”
The Mountaineers that did go made it tough on the Vikings, the Blue Ridge District champions.
Four singles matches stretched to three sets, but Northside won three of the four.
“We had to move some guys up and they gave everything they had,” Davis said. “We had so many close losses.”
Both Stone Russell’s loss at No. 2 singles and Logan Robertson’s defeat at No. 5 stretched near the two-hour mark.
And Charles Honaker, out most of the year with a broken foot, lost a tough match at No. 6, 7-5 in the third.
Alleghany winners included Dominic Trice at No. 1 in straight sets and Tanner Arritt at No. 4 in a slugfest that went for two hours and 30 minutes.
Spencer Rice and Mason Huffman put the match away for Northside with a straight set win at No. 2 doubles against Russell and Arritt.
The Vikings advance to meet top-seeded Abingdon today in a semifinal.
Alleghany’s team season comes to an end with a record of 10-7.
“So many of our guys are first-year players and they improved rapidly from February,” Davis said. “We’re going to miss our nine seniors. They’re very special to me and did so much for the program.”
There is tennis still to be played for a pair of Mountaineers.
Trice (15-2) is the top-seed in the Region D singles tournament, beginning on Friday, while Trice and Tingler (11-4) will team up for the doubles event as the No. 4 seed. Both tournaments will be held at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center at Virginia Tech.
NORTHSIDE 5, AHS 2
Singles:
Dominic Trice (A) d. Paulo Cruz, 6-3, 6-3
Spencer Rice (N) d. Stone Russell, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
Brandon Jester (N) d. Dawson Tolley, 6-2, 6-0
Tanner Arritt (A) d. Neil Patel, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3
Mason Huffman (N) d. Logan Robertson, 6-3, 4-7, 6-4
Noah Alderman (N) d. Charles Honaker, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
Doubles:
Trice and Tolley (A) vs. Cruz and Jester (N), DNF
Rice and Huffman (N) d. Russell and Arritt, 6-1, 6-1
Robertson and Honaker (A) vs. Patel and Alderman (N), DNF
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Dominic Trice was a singles winner Monday in Alleghany’s Class 3, Region D team quarterfinal against Northside at Clifton Middle School. The Vikings defeated the Mountaineers, 5-2. (Gavin Dressler Photo)
