ST. HELENA >> In matches that were contested on Thursday, Middletown battled St. Helena to a 2-2 tie. Unfortunately the Mustangs had to forfeit in second doubles and fell 3-2 to the Saints in Coastal Mountain Conference tennis action at St. Helena.
“That’s going to be our story all season,” Middletown coach Vic Wroobel said. “We don’t have a second doubles team.”
A small turnout for this year’s Middletown squad has left the Mustangs without a full compliment for the first time in years, perhaps ever.
Middletown’s wins against St. Helena came in first singles where freshman Solomon Malicay defeated Natalie Stanton 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, and in first doubles where Trevor Smith and Christian Nikolov teamed up to beat Lucas Lyons and Easton Ellis 6-3, 6-3.
“Solomon is just a freshman and he’s already some player,” Wroobel said. “He blew her away in that third set. He found a weakness and exploited it. He hit wide shots to her backhand and he must have scored 10 point in a row.”
Robert Amante pushed St. Helena’s Sophia Sakopoulos to three sets in second singles, but Sakopoulos rallied for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory.
St. Helena also won in third singles where Kelly Hinds beat Johnny Nance 6-0, 6-4.
Middletown returns to action April 4 at home against Cloverdale.
