NORTH MANCHESTER – The Manchester Squires got their first taste of adversity Wednesday.
The Manchester boys tennis team faced an undefeated Peru and fell 4-1 in a Three Rivers Conference match at Manchester High School.
“(The Tigers) came out a little bit more aggressive in their style of play, and we’ll just have to adjust to that in the future,” said Manchester coach Calvin Sellers.
Manchester’s lone win came at No. 1 doubles.
The duo of Kyle Shepherd and Brady Wiley won 6-3 in the first set over Peru’s Christopher Dicken and Greyson Spohn.
Shepherd and Wiley held a close lead in the second set before the Tigers evened the score at 6.
The Squires scrapped out an 8-6 win in the tiebreaker for a 7-6 set win and doubles match victory.
Sellers credited Shepherd’s and Wiley’s unique style of play with their win.
“It’s their first year playing together, and they just make some interesting doubles plays that you don’t typically see,” Sellers said. “(They’re) a little bit more aggressive going down the lines and (with) heavy top-spin shots.”
Manchester (2-1, 1-1 Three Rivers Conference) didn’t fare as well in the rest of the match.
“I was impressed with how everybody played,” Sellers said. “Sometimes you just go out and it doesn’t go in your favor. Sometimes shots that you think you can hit go a little wide or a little long, and you’re gonna have days like that.”
Sellers sees the match as a chance for his team to grow.
“The one thing that I’m trying to teach the most is how to adapt to your opponent’s strategy to beat them,” Sellers said. “I think this is a good one to go back to practice and show them a few more things that we can try, and see how well it works.”
Peru coach Mike Saine was impressed with his squad’s energy coming off a long bus ride.
“(I liked) the fact that they got off the bus tonight and came ready to play,” he said. “They had a couple letdowns, but overall, good mental effort.”
The Squires dropped to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while the Tigers improved to 6-0, 1-0.
The Squires lost 3-0 in the JV match.
Manchester next will play Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Bluffton High School.
PERU 4, MANCHESTER 1
Singles: No. 1 – Ryan Smith (P) def. Luke Donathan (M) 6-0, 6-3; No. 2 – Brad Ryan (P) def. Spence Trick 6-3, 6-1; 3. Leif Astrup (P) def. Quinn Martin 6-1, 6-0.
