PETALUMA — Two road matches in two days proved to be no problem at all for the Middletown High School tennis team, a 3-2 winner over the St. Vincent Mustangs on Wednesday in Petaluma.
After opening the season with a 4-1 victory at Willits on Tuesday, Middletown improved to 2-0 with wins in third singles and both doubles matches. Cody Astley beat Seth Thompson 6-1, 6-2 in third singles, Gerry Espinoza and Oscar Rincon prevailed 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) over Anthony Leoni and Emily Wilmore in first doubles, and Madi Kucer and Ariana Diaz beat Kate Walsh and Rebecca Grant 6-1, 6-2 in second doubles.
Middletown”s two losses both went the maximum three sets. Drew Hoppe beat Nika Gibbs 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 in first singles while Madison Thompson rallied past Jerry Turner 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in second singles.
“Coming back to take that second set after losing 6-0 in the first set is kind of a testament to how hard she works,” Middletown coach Marc Morita said Gibbs, a multi-sport athlete at Middletown.
“She”s playing kids who play (tennis) every single day and she plays multiple sports and does other things besides,” Morita said. “She should be really proud of coming back like that to win the second set.”
Middletown also split two exhibition matches. Chris King and Gerardo Gonzalez won 8-2 in doubles while Carli Fauci fell 8-2 in singles.
Middletown hits the road again on Tuesday to play Rincon Valley Christian.
