Bonney Lake Boys Tennis Beats Curtis for the First Time, Tops Reigning Champs 3-2

#1 Doubles - Cory Lozano and Logan Schaff 5-7 6-4 10-7

In three years of facing Curtis since joining the SPSL, Bonney Lake had never beaten the Vikings. That changed Thursday afternoon.

Curtis came into the match as the reigning SPSL 4A league champion, having gone 10-1 in league play a season ago. The Panthers, fresh off a lopsided 5-0 sweep of Spanaway Lake the week before, had no such luxury this time around. Every single match on the court Thursday went the distance, with breaks of serve piling up in nearly every set and not a single lopsided scoreline in sight.

The weather cooperated for a change too. After a full week of rain and cold, temperatures climbed into the high 70s, a welcome shift for both squads after last week's cloudy, sunless afternoon.

When it was over, Bonney Lake had done what no Panther team had managed since the two programs became league rivals, beating Curtis 3-2.

#! Singles - Cameron Munsch 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Munsch Grinds Out a Classic at #1 Singles

Senior Cameron Munsch squared off against Curtis freshman Isaac Yeo in what turned into one of the more entertaining matches of the season. Yeo showed off a polished, mature game from the opening games, and neither player could hold serve for long stretches as the sets wore on.

Munsch took the first set 6-3 behind a heavy backhand and a willingness to come forward behind his drop shot, but the second set turned into a battle of breaks, with the score swinging back and forth deep into the set before it was forced to a tiebreaker. Munsch closed it out 7-6 (7-4), sealing the match with a backhand winner down the line and clinching the first singles point of the day for Bonney Lake.

#2 Singles - Adrian Nguyen 6-7 (3-7) 4-6

Nguyen Falls in a Fight at #2 Singles

Senior Adrian Nguyen was locked in one of the tightest matches on the courts all afternoon against Curtis' Noah Tran. Nguyen fought back from down 2-5 in a first-set tiebreaker to force it to 4-5 before ultimately dropping the set 6-7 (3-7). The second set followed a similar script, with Nguyen unable to find the break he needed in a 6-4 loss. Despite the result, it was one of the more competitive individual battles of the day.

#3 Doubles - Charlie Sample and Isaac Wernert 6-2 6-4

Doubles Split the Difference

Seniors Charlie Sample and sophomore Isaac Wernert were the first pairing off the court, and also the most efficient, closing out #3 doubles in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.

At #2 doubles, senior William Vescio and junior Everett Brashears split sets, 3-6, 6-4, before dropping a 10-point match tiebreaker 10-5 to fall in three.

That left it to seniors Cory Lozano and Logan Schaff at #1 doubles to decide the entire team match. After dropping the first set 5-7, Lozano and Schaff answered with a 6-4 second set to force a match tiebreaker. Trailing early, they steadily pulled away, with Schaff coming up with a huge cross-court volley and a well-placed lob to build the lead before Lozano put the exclamation point on both his own win and Bonney Lake's, slamming home an overhead to close out the tiebreaker 10-7 and clinch the historic 3-2 team victory.

#2 Doubles - William Vescio and Everett Brashears 3-6 6-4 5-10

A Milestone Win

Head coach Damon DeLapp was all smiles afterward, and it is easy to see why. Beating the defending league champion for the first time in program history against Curtis is a signature win no matter how you slice it, and the way it happened, with every match going the distance and the deciding point coming down to a tiebreaker at #1 doubles, made it that much sweeter. Bonney Lake will look to carry the momentum forward as a busy stretch of the schedule continues.