The North Thurston boys tennis team narrowly outlasted River Ridge 3-2 in a tight match at River Ridge High School Tuesday afternoon.
In the top singles match, North Thurston’s Matthias Tenkley defeated River Ridge’s Cole Von Rueden in straight sets 6-5 and 7-5. River Ridge’s Nicholas Dumitrescu produced a split for the two singles series, as he came back to defeat Samuel Bedekan in three sets after losing the first. The first set was a 6-4 Bedekan victory, and Dumitrescu ran away with the second 6-0 before a thrilling 11-9 triumph in the tiebreaker.
In doubles, River Ridge’s Shane Nguyen and Alex Gross knocked off North Thurston’s Asher Barnes and Jonah Stemmere in straight sets 6-1, 6-1. But the Rams got the best of the Hawks in the other two doubles matches. William Brandon and Gunar Vanderoff of North Thurston needed a third-set tiebreaker to beat Lucas Manter and Matthew Yi 10-7 in the third set.
River Ridge’s Dane Moholt-Phillips and Wyatt Ricke also won a thriller 11-9 in the third set to win the match.
“It was an amazing match, and I’m looking forward to a great season with the guys,” River Ridge head coach David Ohrt said.
It’s right back to work for River Ridge, which will host Yelm Wednesday afternoon and visit Lakes on Thursday. North Thurston will host Timberline Thursday afternoon.
