MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks tennis team played in a competitive home matchup against Wenatchee, but in the end the boys fell 1-6 and the girls fell 0-7. Despite coming up short, Mavs Head Coach Mark Thompson said he was proud of how the team performed against a tough league rival.

“Wenatchee is pretty much the top of our league right now ... they haven’t lost a match on the boys side or the girls side yet this season,” said Thompson. “Going into it, we were kind of changing some things up because we were more looking forward to districts and Inland.”

Both the boys and girls Mavs players were experimenting with different lineups against Wenatchee, which translated to some successes on the court. This allowed players to face off against unfamiliar opponents in different positions, giving more experience in preparation for the tough schedule ahead.

Weston Hill was the lone Maverick to earn a victory Tuesday as he was dominant in his match against Wenatchee’s Chase Penning. Hill claimed a 6-1 victory in the first set then went on to go 6-2 in the following set.

Multiple boys matches came close, even with the modified lineup, Thompson said, as boys fourth singles player Kysen Chavez from Moses Lake went into a tight second-set tiebreaker against Asher Campbell from Wenatchee where he fell just 4-6 in the tiebreaker.

Another close set came in boys third doubles, where Brayden Thacker and Emmet Sisney fell in the first set but won close in the second set to go into a final third set. The match remained competitive until the very end, where the Mavs fell just short with a score of 9-11 in a 10-point tiebreaker.

Thompson said the boys team had played in a lineup like what they ran Tuesday, but the girls side had multiple players stepping into new roles.

Sophomore Hadley Whittall stepped into the number one singles for Moses Lake for the first time in her career. Despite falling 2-6, 1-6, Thompson said he felt that Whittall held her own very well.

“She’s been playing three and four (singles) for us a lot of the season, but because we put our number one and two down into the doubles category, that meant we had to bring some of the other girls up,” said the coach. “So (Whittall) did very well at that one spot for us, we’re hoping she continues and works hard over the off season and can get better in playing some of those spots this next year for us.”

Following the tough meet Tuesday afternoon, the Mavs began preparing for the Inland Empire Tournament in Spokane this weekend. This year’s tournament will feature over 800 players and 54 schools competing in 13 different locations across the city.

As Moses Lake prepares to head into one of the largest tennis tournaments in the state, Thompson said their priority at practice is to have players who are playing doubles get used to partners they might not have had an opportunity to practice with. This is especially important for players participating in Mixed Doubles.

“I think the good thing is, they’re friends off the court and our boys and girls varsity teams practice together quite a bit,” said the coach.

The Inland Empire Tournament will also be a physically taxing weekend on the players, as in previous years, Thompson said. Matches can start at 8 a.m. and last a few hours with each player seeing around four opponents. If the players are successful Friday, they will go on to potentially play another four matches Saturday.

“That’s a lot more than just playing a match in league against another school,” said the coach. “Some endurance factor comes into play this weekend too.”

Thompson said participating in a fun, but competitive tournament will be great preparation as the players get ready to face three league rivals and look ahead to the district tournament.

“This has been a strenuous week with them having matches and stuff, but they’re going to face it again next week because the one match got canceled,” he said. “Inland is going to prepare us, hopefully, for the next week of league play with all the matches we have going on.”

The Mavs head into the Inland Empire tournament Friday and Saturday. Following the tournament, the Mavs face Eisenhower at home Tuesday, West Valley on the road Wednesday and Eastmont on the road Thursday with each meet taking place at 3 p.m.

Boys Results

Micah Shattuck (WNCH) def. Sam Molitor (MLHS), 0-6, 1-6

Weston Hill (MLHS) def. Chase Penning (WNCH), 6-1, 6-2

Alex Reeg (WNCH) def. Rysik Chavez (MLHS), 1-6, 4-6

Asher Campbell (WNCH) def. Kysen Chavez (MLHS), 2-6, 6-7(4)

Tevin Hartsig/Nolan Alley (WNCH) def. Jacob Duvall/Ollie Madsen (MLHS), 1-6, 0-6

Owen Tueten/Ben Bordon (WNCH) def. Ian Duvall/Thomas Bowen (MLHS), 2-6, 1-6

Liam White/Jakob Rowe (WNCH) def. Brayden Thacker/Emmett Sisney (MLHS), 1-6, 7-5, 9-11

Girls Results

Kenzie Murphy (WNCH) def. Hadley Whittall (MLHS), 2-6, 1-6

Brynn Katman (WNCH) def. River Spees (MLHS), 0-6, 0-6

Nina Shatluck (WNCH) def. Yoseline Avila (MLHS), 0-6, 0-6

Lauren Black (WNCH) def. Elizabeth Katyukha (MLHS), 0-6, 0-6

Lauren Bixby/Julia Pleas (WNCH) def. Ariah Louiseau/Kamalie Bruce (MLHS), 1-6, 3-6

Mattie Mackay/Becca Lamb (WNCH) def. Kinsey Thomas/Camila Gonzalez (MLHS), 1-6, 3-6

Clara Shattuck/Nina Keifeaheim (WNCH) def. Desirae Cantu/Arianna Martinez (MLHS), 0-6, 0-6

    Moses Lake’s Sam Molitor keeps his eye on the ball and swings his racket to hit the ball back to his opponent earlier this season.
  

    River Spees from Moses Lake gets ready to serve the ball to her opponent in a prior home matchup.
  

    Mavs player Camila Gonzalez steps up to the net as she awaits the serve during a previous doubles match this season.
  

    Kysen Chavez from Moses Lake gears up to serve in a prior matchup at home this season.