RITZVILLE — The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos fell to the Reardan Screaming Eagles 5-0 on Wednesday on the road. Despite the loss, Head Coach Zachary Swanger was happy with how his players battled. 

“Even though we lost, in all the matches it was promising to see the way that our kids battled back in nearly every second set. All of them improved considerably throughout the match,” Swanger said.  

The Broncos’ Marissa Lane and Antonia Giunchiglia were up first in singles competition. Lane dropped the first set but bounced back in the second set. She ultimately lost the second set in a competitive 6-4 result. Giunchiglia also fell in her singles matchup, but was able to string together a few successful rallies, losing 6-1 and 6-2.  

Myah Atkinson and Lane were up first for girls doubles, but suffered another loss, 6-0 and 6-1. Kailyn Dafler and Serenity Fase represented the Broncos in the girls second doubles match. They dropped their first set 6-0, but showed improvement in the second losing 6-4.  

The boys played three singles matches. Competing at first singles for the boys was Graham Christianson, who fell in set one 6-2 and 6-1 in the second.  

From there, Kyle Hatten gave his opponent his best. Hatten dropped set one 6-1, but he bounced back in the second set with a 6-4 victory. That pushed the match to a third set where Hatten suffered the loss 10-6.  

In the third boys singles match, Gabe Hunter fell short in another competitive match. Though he was competitive in the first set, he fell 6-4. Due to sunlight running out, the two went into a tiebreak where Hunter’s opponent squeezed out an 8-6 win.  

Several players are new to the sport this season, Swanger said. Their next match is slated for Friday at 3 p.m. when they host Saint George’s School at Sprague High School.  

“Almost all my players are new to competitive tennis this year. I was very excited to see the growth in my players in this match, and I look forward to seeing more growth throughout the season,” Swanger said.  

MATCH RESULTS:  

1st Boys Singles – Bryson Vining def. Graham Christianson (LRS), 2-6,1-6 

2nd Boys Singles – Max Shevchenko def. Kyle Hatten (LRS), 1-6,6-4,6-10 

3rd Boys Singles – Damian Burkoff def. Gabe Hunter (LRS), 4-6, 6-8 

1st Girls Singles – Kaitlin Butterfield def. Marissa Lane (LRS), 0-6,4-6 

2nd Girls Singles – Kate Gulke def. Antonia Giunchiglia (LRS), 1-6,2-6 

1st Girls Doubles – Ely Crego/Morgan Leenheer def. Myah Atkinson/Marissa Lane (LRS), 0-6,1-6  

2nd Girls Doubles – Kinlee Addington/ Hayden Miller def. Kailyn Dafler/Serenity Fase (LRS), 0-6,4-6 

    Graham Christianson, in black and red, hits the ball over the net during a singles match.
  

    Antonia Giunchiglia, in black, for the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos goes to serve the ball during a singles match.
  

    Marissa Lane, in black, gets set for the next serve during a doubles match.